The Goddess's Son of Mana
by Galdr
Summary: What if Martel was Lloyd's mother? What if he was born a few years before the Kharlan War? What if Lloyd unintentionally became the next Chosen? Tales of Symphonia "what-if", partially follows the game/manga/OVA. [AU] [Hiatus]
1. Beginnings

[What-if] What if Martel was Lloyd's mother? What if he was born a few years before the Kharlan War? What if Lloyd unintentionally became the next Chosen? Tales of Symphonia "what-if", partially follows the game/manga/OVA. [AU]

Just a head's up, Lloyd will still have brownish hair, etc. He'll just have…quarter-elf blood in him, still classified as a "half-elf". **Story contains spoilers.** That's the warning. Also, I have no idea what the combined Sylvarant and Tethe'alla was (don't think the game, manga and OVA ever mentioned it, either), so I'm calling it "Aselia". Correct me if I'm wrong, though.

Enjoy.

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-x-x-x-

The Goddess's Son of Mana

**Chapter 1: Beginnings**

-x-x-x-

The sun was up again, filling the sky with its beautiful, gleaming radiance. A wave of grassland spread across the fields, the wind picking up the blades of grass whimsically, rushing them off side to side. A dirt road crossed through these fields and walking upon them were four people. There were two, young adult men, a young adult woman and a child, around ten years old. They were a group of friends, having been together for quite some time and bonded with a strong friendship.

One of the men in the group had wild auburn hair, his long bangs covering the left side of his face, over his eye. The top portion of his hair jaggedly strayed upward, swaying leftmost as well, and lastly, the rest of his hair fell towards his shoulders. He was dressed in a purple outfit; it had details of diamond-like patterns etched onto it, gloves covering his hands and having a swallow tail trailing behind him. His eyes were the same shade as his hair apparently, and he carried a sheathed sword fastened to his left hip. He looked no more than eighteen years old.

The second man of the group had an unusual hair color of blue, having emerald green eyes. He was wearing a red vest-like shirt that buttoned up towards his neck. A navy blue shirt was underneath, a white long sleeves under that, having white pants with navy blue tunic strips with gold hems hanging off the sides. He wore navy blue gauntlets over his white pants where his knee caps ended, leaving his red and same colored boots upon his feet. His long blue hair was tied into a ponytail, ending near his rear. His bangs were brushed off to the right side of his face, and his ears were lightly pointed. He appeared to be the same as the man with auburn hair.

The young woman in their mist had long, light green hair, her short bangs over her face. She seemed very cheerful, always having a reassuring smile on her fair skinned face. Her eyes were a pale gold color, loving and caring. She wore a completely black outfit, having green hemmed around the edges of it. A little bit of her mid-drift chest was lightly exposed, however she naturally wore a dark gray shawl over her shoulders to cover up. She had long gloves covering her arms mostly, though ended around the backs of her hands. She was walking very closely with the man in purple, them sharing hands together as they held them closely.

Last in their small group, the ten-year-old appearing boy had blond hair that was straight but still wild, flatly. His bangs swept across his face, covering a little bit of his face, but still displayed it. His eyes were as crystal blue as the sky. He was wearing white robes which left his skinny arms bare. The hems of the white robes were strung with navy blue; his pants were also the same color and he wore white, small boots. Around his wrists were gold bracelets, which he adored. His blond hair was short, ending around his shoulders as well.

They weren't far off from the road until the young boy took notice of something. "Sister! Look!" He squeaked excitedly, motioning for the young woman. He ran ahead, finding a small field of flowers. They were simple, white daisies, but to the boy, they were beautiful. The sun's rays made them stand out, almost glowing. "These flowers are so pretty!"

The other three walked up to catch up to the boy, all smiling in their own way. The green-haired woman laughed lightly as she knelt down near her brother as he grinned. "Mithos, they are very beautiful." She told him, calling his name. "How about we sit here and look at them for awhile?"

The boy beamed brightly. "C-can we?"

"Of course."

"Yes!"

The two older males of the group chuckled as they approached, looking at the young woman. "Martel, are you sure?" The one with blue hair asked her, naming the female.

"Yuan, Kratos…" She looked at them. "It's been some time since we've stopped to look at the scenery for a change. I don't want to trouble Mithos too much."

"Very well, then." The one called Kratos said, deciding to sit down. Yuan, the blue-haired man, followed suit.

When they were situated, Martel's eyes found the gaze of Kratos', the young man caught it and kept a rather stern face. She tilted her head curiously, which he didn't realize what she was trying to do. "Martel…?" He wondered, noticing her giggle.

"Kratos…Shouldn't we…tell them?" She said in between her light giggling, which caused the young swordsman to blink in surprise before finally getting it.

"Wait, what?" Yuan blinked as well, though in confusion. "Tell us…what?"

"Huh?" Mithos added in the confusion.

Kratos looked down, his hair falling with him. However, he was actually blushing and trying to hide it. However, the green-haired woman noticed it well and continued her light chortles. Yuan and Mithos shared confused glances with one another, then towards their friends. "What…? What is it?" They asked simultaneously. Martel smiled, holding her hand over her stomach very lightly. Yuan watched her movements, suddenly getting it, however Mithos didn't. Why was his sister doing that?

"Mithos, Yuan. Kratos and I…are expecting." She announced.

"…I see." Yuan replied, smiling. Deep down, however, he was hurt. He loved Martel, though he never voiced it to the woman. She had her eyes on the auburn more and he found it would have been rude to admit his feelings to her when she loved someone else, who also returned her feelings. Kratos looked up to see his friend's expression, though was more concerned for Mithos. The poor boy was even more baffled.

"Sister…? What do you mean?"

"It means, I will have a baby soon, Mithos." She told him, his eyes widening. "You will be an uncle in nine months."

"A-ah! R-really?!" The blond gaped in glee. He was going to be an uncle! Someone else to add to his family, other than his sister. He looked at Kratos with his beaming face, now knowing the swordsman was his brother-in-law. "Kratos, that means we're related now!"

"Yeah." The young adult said, smiling.

"Yuan," Martel gazed the half-elf's way, the latter looking her way in response. "I would love it, if you could become our child's god father. Would you?" Yuan was taken aback by the sudden question. Him? Become the god father of his friend's and once-loved child? If anything, he'd be more than willing to take the child off their hands when it was born. He smiled wide; this was as close as he could get though, and wouldn't have minded anyway.

"Of course, Martel. I'll become the child's god father." Yuan replied, earning a grateful giggle from the woman and a warmer smile from Kratos.

"That's great!" Mithos beamed again. "Now we're all family!"

"Mithos, we were family when we first became good friends." Yuan reminded the boy. "We'll always be family, no matter what."

The blond nodded. "Right. No matter what our race is or our blood connections or whatnot. What's important is that we're together." He smiled brightly as the sun, his hair glistening with the rays of the ball of flames. Kratos and Martel shared glances, smiling at one another, hoping their child would be born with peace around them, like today. Their hands collapsed together as they enjoyed the scenery.

-x-x-x-

Nine months had passed almost quickly; the group of four made it to the nearest town, Luin, and urgently rushed Martel to their medical care. They knew this day would come, and the three males were eager. Especially Kratos; the now-nineteen year old paced around outside, even taking out his sword to feverishly cut into the air. The doctors told him to wait outside for awhile; that upset him as he promised Martel he'd be there through everything. Many people glanced at him as if he had gone insane until Yuan explained to some the reason why. They all nodded and went back to their duties. Mithos was sitting down by a fountain, also worried but excited. He was going to be a true uncle today! The very thought thrilled him. Yuan tried to calm Kratos down but that didn't work as the auburn continued pacing and slashing at nothing randomly.

_This is unlike him, but I can't blame him._ Yuan thought as he watched the usually calm Kratos impatiently pace about indecisively. "Kratos…" He called to his friend.

"Yuan, what am I going to do?" The swordsman asked in a nervous tone. "What if it's a girl? What if it's a boy? What would a good name be? Is Martel all right? I'm such a terrible husband. I can't—"

"Kratos! Calm down!" Yuan half yelled at him, making the human angel pause. When the blue haired half-elf got his attention, he sighed. "Worrying about this isn't going to help. Just try and stay calm. I'm sure everything is going fine. Now take a deep breath."

"…" Kratos dotted silently before listening, trying to take a deep breath. All this panicking wasn't helping him, and it surely got Mithos on edge, too. However, one of the doctors came outside and said,

"Mr. Aurion? Your wife has need for your—" the man didn't complete his sentence as Kratos spun around on his heel faster than a bullet train—if it had existed—and rushed inside. He found the room Martel was in instantly and hurried to her side. She was in terrible pain, he knew it, and now wasn't going to leave her side. He held her hand in his, the young soon-to-be mother gripping his hand tighter than a rope.

"Martel, it's going to be all right." He whispered to her softly. A soft smile played upon her face before it scrunched up into frustration.

"I…I know. I'm sorry, Kratos."

"Don't be."

The other nurses and doctors were around, the one that had announced the request returned inside. He washed his hands again, and approached the couple. "Ready, Mrs. Aurion?" The pale woman nodded; her solid grip on Kratos' hand tightened. Kratos was thankful he couldn't feel anything anymore, especially physical pain, but he somehow felt this. It was not his pain, it was Martel's pain.

The pain of child birth.

A good four hours passed when a nurse came outside and found the anxious Yuan and Mithos—who was half enraged that he couldn't go in when Kratos did earlier. The two were escorted inside to Martel's room, where she was recovering. Mithos being ahead, he rushed in, opening the door and gasped lightly when he saw Kratos sitting beside a very pale but smiling Martel. He walked in, followed by Yuan, and approached the now smiling, new father, then found their eyes on Martel. Cradled in her arms was a bundle of a white blanket, but inside was a chubby, flesh of a newborn. The baby barely had any hair upon its head, with light brown over the scalp, barely. However, two small prongs of brown hair protruded from the babe's head. The skin was fair, almost matching Martel's own, and had its eyes closed.

Nearly speechless, Mithos looked at his sister, wondering what to say. His heart was filled with joy, but he was unable to express it in fear of waking the child.

"So…Boy or Girl?" Yuan asked, smiling as he watched the child shift its head very slightly.

Kratos looked up, "Boy." He replied as quietly as he could to the half-elves.

"What…What is his name…?" Mithos asked next. Maybe he could think of a name for his new nephew if they didn't have one…

This time, Martel looked up from watching the baby, her pale gold eyes finding Yuan and her brother. With a smile, she glanced at Kratos, who nodded then proceeded on. "His name…Is Lloyd Aurion. Our little Lloyd."

* * *

Galdr: I know, so cute. :D And this was short. Review if you like.


	2. Happiness and Oops!

[What-if] What if Martel was Lloyd's mother? What if he was born a few years before the Kharlan War? What if Lloyd unintentionally became the next Chosen? Tales of Symphonia "what-if", partially follows the game/manga/OVA. [AU]

Hm, last chapter, I forgot a disclaimer. So for those of you who don't know, I **don't** own Tales of Symphonia or any of its sexy characters. Dang it. Only this idea and this fan-fiction, I guess. Reader's response to previous chapter reviews (if any) will be at the bottom of this chapter and for future reference.

Enjoy chapter two, though it may be a bit short because it's so peaceful. xD And kind of funny.

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-x-x-x-

The Goddess' Son of Mana

**Chapter 2: Happiness and Oops!**

-x-x-x-

Exactly twelve months later since the birth of young Lloyd Aurion, the first baby born of a half-elf and a human angel, was now turning one. The boy now had a mop full of light brown hair, which at times appeared almost auburn as his father's when turned with the sun. He was now able to walk, albeit very clumsy. His eyes were a mixture of pale gold and brown, although they had a red tint to them. The mop of his brown hair was half wild, mostly swaying off to the right unlike his father's. Some of his hair had barely fallen towards his face, and at the back, a simple, thick strand of his hair stuck out like a ponytail.

Lloyd was dressed in a red, long sleeve shirt, dark blue shorts and simple brown sandals. At the moment, while the sun was over them, he was sitting in his father's lap, chewing on the swordsman's right index finger as support for his teething. Another thing Kratos was grateful for his lack of touch and feel. While he could feel his son gnawing on his finger like a beaver, he couldn't actually feel any pain that would have naturally stimulated from it. He figured he'd have been wincing at the in-growth of the infant's baby teeth.

The four friends had situated themselves in the village of oracles, Iselia three months prior. Only a few houses stood, however, they were welcomed into the village. Thankfully, racism of half-elves hadn't reached Iselia yet, so Yuan, Mithos and Martel were grateful for that. The villagers allowed them to celebrate the young child's birthday there, given they could join in as well. Mithos beamed in joy at their kindness, Yuan smiled and the parents of Lloyd were the happiest. Martel, Yuan, Mithos and the Iselians were fixing up a small area for a party with decorations and a few presents while Kratos remained with the birthday boy and his teething.

Kratos sighed in relief when his son let his finger go and now was chewing on his own fingers for amusement. He turned the boy around, staring at him. The boy only looked back before returning his father's serious gaze. The auburn frowned and much to his dismay, so did Lloyd. It was like looking at the mirror of youth; the young brunet looked so much like him it was scary. Why was he copying him? "Lloyd…I want you to smile. It's your birthday today." Kratos told the child sternly. Unfortunately, Lloyd did not smile, nor did he understand what his father was telling him. In his own response, he began to drool sloppily, the saliva running on Kratos' clean shirt. Kratos' grimaced but nonetheless, didn't bother. It was all part of being a father.

"Lloyd." Kratos called the child's name that responded by laughing and began pulling the man's hair with his saliva covered fingers. Unfortunately, Kratos' lack of touch and feel rejuvenated itself for that split moment and he winced at his son's violent tugging at his hair connected to his scalp. For a baby, he was quite strong. Lloyd laughed more giddily tugging harder until he pulled out a few strands of auburn hair. The small pair of hands stared at the hair strands quizzically, watching his father grumble in what appeared to be pain. Not like Lloyd knew what was going on, but it was rather fun to him. He began chewing on Kratos' pulled hair like it was food.

_…That actually hurt…_ Kratos said to himself, rubbing the spot where Lloyd pulled out the few strands of his hair. He noticed his son nibbling on the hair as if they were spaghetti. "No Lloyd, you cannot eat that." The father told his son, removing the hair pieces from the boy's tight grip. The brunet's huge, child eyes stared at his father with watering eyes and Kratos knew he had done something wrong and paled instantly. Lloyd was going to cry any second and that would alert Martel. _Kratos…Think of something quickly…Hm, I know._

He offered his hand to the child who stopped sniffling and grabbed at the larger hand before him. Lloyd wrapped his tiny fingers around Kratos' thumb, pulling it to see if it would come off. That didn't work after ten tries, so the teething infant decided to chew his way through. Kratos did a mental face-palm but chuckled anyway.

"Looks like someone wants his daddy to become a cookie." A familiar voice said as the owner neared them. Kratos looked up and saw Yuan approaching, a crooked smile on the blue-haired half-elf's face.

"Yuan, you've been shirking your god-fatherly duties." The auburn swordsman reminded him.

"That's because you, Martel and Mithos won't let me have a chance to hold him for more than five seconds."

"…Well, here's your chance now." Kratos offered the still chewing-on-daddy's-thumb Lloyd. Yuan laughed a little, taking the tyke from his father's care, grinning.

"Hey Lloyd, my little man. You'll be with me for awhile now. Let's say bye-bye to Daddy." Yuan said, showing the boy how to wave "good bye". His emerald eyes fell on the boy who copied his half-elf godfather's wave, although more crooked. Still pleased with the effort of the child, Yuan smiled proudly. Kratos waved to his son who stared at him with those huge eyes of his. "We won't be gone too long or too far." Yuan told his friend, who simply nodded.

"Of course you won't." Kratos added, watching his half-elf angel friend walk off with his little boy. It hadn't been thirty seconds and Kratos was already missing the drooling pre-toddler's presence. This must be how parents feel when their child is gone for awhile. The young father sighed to himself, getting up from where he was sitting and walked towards the house he shared with his family of five. He would need to change out of his current attire, as Martel approved his "casual" wear.

-x-x-x-

**Happiness**

-x-x-x-

"Happy birthday, Lloyd!"

The birthday boy was seated at the center chair at the end of the table with his mother and father—the latter being dressed in a simple, partially long-sleeve black shirt and a pair of dark blue pants. Yuan and Mithos were seated next to them, then the rest of the villagers. A lot of hand-made streamers, cake, cookies—all of which were Lloyd's favorite kind, chocolate—and other prepared dishes were upon the table. Nearby were the boy's small gifts some villagers were happy to give to the growing toddler. Oblivious to the cheering noise as any child his age, Lloyd decided it was best to grab the nearest thing and destroy it. Near him was his chocolate cake however his uncle caught him before he could grab it with his small hands. "Wait Lloyd, we have to blow out the candle!" Mithos told his nephew, who kept trying to grab the cake anyway. Everyone chuckled to the scene, especially Martel.

A single candle was lit on chocolate cake, and it became an object of Lloyd's toddler attention. "Lloyd, close yours eyes, make a wish and then blow out your candle!" Mithos giggled; half knowing his nephew had not a clue what he meant. The blond carefully held his nephew towards the cake's candle, but far enough so he couldn't grab it and burn himself. Everyone waited silently for the candle to go out and when it did—thanks to the assistance of Mithos—everyone cheered happily for the now-one year old. With the candle's fire out, Lloyd made his earnest attempt to grab it and possibly gnaw on it like a beaver does to wood. Mithos took the candle carefully out of the cake, putting it aside on the table, away from his nephew's reach.

Martel replaced Mithos standing behind Lloyd, carefully taking a knife and cutting into the cake, giving the first slice to her son. Lloyd saw his mother putting the brown thing upon a plate and now drew his attention on the delicacy. "Here Lloyd, let Mommy cut it—" She stopped as she saw the one-year old grab the cake with his hands, shoving the mashed up dessert into his mouth and eating it sloppily. The green-haired half-elf chuckled to herself, passing the knife and the cake platter down so everyone could get a slice. The mother had a wet rag with her almost always, and when the boy spilled cake on himself, she would wipe it off almost instantly. Still with the first mashed up chocolate cake in one of his hands, Lloyd used his other to grab and mash up another handful and shove it into his mouth messily.

Seeing this, Yuan grimaced, unable to finish his own slice. "Just watching him eat makes me feel a little ill." He admitted, earning a laugh from Mithos and a half-glare from Kratos. Noticing the glare first, he shrugged. "What? I'm only telling the truth. The kid's cute, but when he eats, it just…freaks me out a little."

"Ha-ha-ha-ha! Yuan, it isn't _that_ bad!" Mithos said, grinning. "At least he isn't drooling over his cake and then putting it back."

Unfortunately, Mithos jinxed it. Lloyd did exactly that, making the pre-teen cringe now. "Ugh, forget I even said anything." Now it was Yuan's turn to laugh at his fellow half-elf's displeasure. Kratos suppressed his chuckle, simply smiling at the bantering of the half-elves. Mithos shot Yuan a pouting glare, narrowing his blue eyes at the blue-haired man. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." He muttered sarcastically.

"Now, you two. He's only a baby. He'll do things like this from time to time." Martel added herself into their conversation, wiping the drool and mashed up cake from Lloyd's mouth and hands. She looked up to them, smiling. "We'll have to get used to it."

"I don't think I'll ever get used to it." Mithos admitted.

"He'll grow out of it in time." His sister reminded. "Remember, he's learning how to eat for himself. Not only that, he's teething. The cake must feel good to his gums."

"I guess so." Yuan forked in a piece of his cake, regaining his composure and slight appetite for it. Kratos wordlessly finished his cake before giving Martel a heavy stare. The goddess-like woman caught it and smiled warmly.

"Yes, Kratos?"

The auburn haired man smiled in return. "I'll hold him when it comes to opening his gifts." He told his wife, who nodded in agreement.

"I think he'll love that."

After an hour of eating—and more of Lloyd's grossing out his uncle and godfather with his toddler eating habits—it was time to open the few birthday gifts! The villagers huddled underneath a large tree, surrounding Kratos, who was holding his son. Martel was sitting next to him, Yuan on the left side of Kratos and Mithos beside his sister. The first villager came up to present his gift. He was only six years old, at the very least. His mother walked up to them with him.

"Um…" The little boy shyly began. "I…I made this for Lloyd. My mommy helped me. I hope he likes it!" The boy held out a wooden toy, that looked like a block with wheels on it. It was painted in blue and red, and had been left to dry beforehand. Kratos smiled, thanking the boy and watched the interaction between him and his son. The brunet boy stared quizzically at the gift before taking it slowly. His eyes studied the toy before bringing it to his mouth to chew on it. Martel carefully took the toy from her son, laughing. "Lloyd, you can't eat this, baby." She said in a sweet, loving baby-like voice. It seemed to work since the toddler didn't try to persist. Inwardly, Kratos was wondering how she did that…

"S-so does he…like my gift?" The boy asked, wondering.

"He does." Martel answered. "He'll definitely play with it. Thank-you so much." She gave her natural, beaming smile to the young boy. He nodded, being lead away by his mother.

The next gifts were two more toys; a painted, wooden boat and a few building blocks, and the last was a woven blanket made of cotton to keep the child warm at night. With all three of them, Lloyd attempted to chew at them for his teeth. Mithos sighed at his nephew, glancing to his brother-in-law. "Does _everything_ he gets his hands on have to go into his mouth?" Kratos eyed the blond, shrugging almost.

"I'm…almost as clueless, Mithos. I suppose to him, it's a way of knowing what the item is in place of texture." The swordsman answered, despite he was unsure. Whatever the baby had done baffled him, and he was still new to this parenting thing anyway. After the presents were given, Martel thanked each one for the party and gifts to her son. By afternoon, Lloyd had exhausted himself to sleep, which was the ending of the party. Yuan was tasked with holding the sleeping Lloyd and his new blanket wrapped around him while everyone else went to clean up. The older half-elf angel sat on a bench, with the sun half between the trees he was partially sitting under, carefully holding his godson close. As he watched the villagers and his friends busying themselves, his mind lightly drifted off to his thoughts.

Here he was, holding Lloyd, the child that could have been his, if he had admitted his feelings to Martel a year and a half ago. Although he probably wouldn't have named him 'Lloyd', he still could have been his. His emerald eyes glanced down on the sleeping child, who was off in dreamland, lightly snoring. He had all the qualities of his parents, more so Kratos than Martel, however. Sure, the boy had the charisma of his ever caring mother, and the appearance of his father, but what also made him stand out was his vastly large amount of mana stored in his tiny body. It rivaled his father's at such a young age, and would therefore continue to develop when he got older.

_He could use magic easily when he gets to the age of three…_ Yuan thought to himself, continuing to keep his eyes on the boy. He was a strange specimen. The first born child of a half-elf angel woman and a human angel man; something the world has never encountered before. If his calculations were correct, somewhere deep down in Lloyd's blood was elven, although it was fairly weak and diluted, due to his parent's half-human heritage as well as their angelic half. That would obviously shove the elf in him down the line, but it was definitely there. Lloyd could still be classified as a half-elf when he grew older. While Yuan thought it was no problem, there was the fear of watching the child grow up and be disgusted for his half-elf heritage by racists.

No. No matter how much he coveted Martel's love and the wishing of Lloyd to be his, he couldn't do that. He would not allow his past emotions to throw his best friends off course. He loved Lloyd, yes, and would do anything to protect his godson from discovering racism as well. He would have to help raise him, of course, to love every species as his mother did, regardless of the discrimination of race. The blue-haired half-elf knew his parents would most likely drill that on him when he got older, but he'd do the favor and help that as well. _It's the least I can do to help them. Lloyd is too special to be mistreated. _Yuan mused to himself. He shook from his thoughts, looking up to see Martel approaching him, smiling.

"We're nearly done, Yuan, but I was worried that you may need a break from holding Lloyd." She said, taking the boy gently from him. "I'll get him to bed. Thank-you for watching him, Yuan."

Yuan stood up from his spot, nodding. "It's no trouble, Martel. He was sleeping like a rock, like his father." He chuckled at the end, watching Martel laugh lightly at his joke before heading inside. The half-elf could feel Kratos' glare burning on the back of his head and when he turned to meet the human angel's gaze, sure enough, the man was glaring at him. "Oh, Kratos, you used to sleep like a rock!" Yuan defended himself. The young father rolled his eyes somewhat, deciding to ignore Yuan's comments.

-x-x-x-

**Oops!**

-x-x-x-

Four months after Lloyd's first birthday, the village returning to its daily peace, Kratos—in his causal black shirt and now dark grey pants—was glancing up at the sky, watching the clouds for some reason. Today was peaceful, and he himself had turned twenty a month ago. He was thoroughly distracted that he had not heard someone behind him; when he turned, he saw the small form of his walking son coming near him. His large, innocent eyes stared up at his father, drool hanging out the side of his mouth as usual. Kratos stared back, unsure of what the child wanted. What was unexpected was that he held up his tiny arms, wanting to be picked up.

"Hm, what is Lloyd?" Kratos asked gently, picking up the young toddler carefully. The child continued to stare the man, then raised his arms up again.

"Dah!" He babbled, Kratos quizzically glancing at him.

"…What?" The man wondered. "I don't…understand…baby talk."

The boy kept his arms raised and repeated his babbling. "Dah." He said. The angel blinked in confusion. What was it that his son wanted? At times, he wished he could read minds and figure it out. Unfortunately, the world did not work that way. He pondered some possibilities that his child could want. A shoulder ride, maybe? Martel wouldn't let him fly around with the boy anyway, scared he would fall off or something else happened. The next best thing would be to toss the child into the air. "Hm, well, Yuan told me to act more…human…" Kratos mused to himself, keeping his eyes on the still babbling brunet boy in his hands. "Up?"

Lloyd's staring face now turned into a bout full of giggles. Kratos immediately knew what his son wanted and lit up with delight. Finally, something he got on his own without asking Martel. "Up? You want to go up?"

"Dah!" was Lloyd's squeaky reply, obviously a yes.

"All right then. Here we go." Kratos smiled as he gently tossed Lloyd a bit in the air, catching him when he returned. Lloyd giggled in delight, wanting more. "Okay, okay, here we go again." The auburn swordsman laughed along with his child, throwing him up a little higher each time, the boy joyously laughing when he sailed into the air then back down. Kratos stopped awhile to watch his child babble on and giggle with utmost glee, happy to be spending time with his father. Smiling wider, the human angel thought of tossing his son higher than before. However, there was one thing he forgot…

"All right Lloyd, let's go higher. Aaaand go!" Kratos laughed, tossing his son up. However the smile faded when he realized he threw the child too high. In fact, the boy was sailing past a few clouds. Kratos, keeping his arms up, stared, paled, and put on a dumb, straight face when he realized something; his Exsphere. Didn't Yuan tell him to unequip it before playing with Lloyd, in fear the power of the gem amplified his already angelic strength? Oops. "Damn…" The auburn cringed, knowing Yuan and Mithos were going to chew him out, and Martel would be in shock. Quickly, the man released his mana, the blue-colored angel wings taking shape, and then, he took off to the skies after his son. When he caught up to the sailing boy, expecting him to be dropping at high velocity, he was met with a rather unusual scene, causing him to gasp, unbelieving for just a second.

The boy was floating down, but being held up in small, dove-like sapphire and emerald colored wings, the size of the child's arms length. Lloyd somehow grew his angel wings and without an Exsphere, to boot. Kratos shook from his daze and carefully caught his son, who was babbling away in laughter like nothing even happened. It was probably possible, seeing as he and Martel shared angelic quality, but he wouldn't have known it would have passed down to their son. Experimenting, Kratos held one of his hands underneath his son, the other still holding onto him, then carefully released him. The joyous boy remained afloat, but didn't flap his wings at all, as he most likely didn't know, even by instinct. Lloyd began to descend after a few seconds of staying mid-air, his mana-made wings being used like a parachute. Smiling, Kratos bundled the boy in his arms and descended himself.

When he landed, he was met with an angry-faced Mithos, a frowning Yuan and a shocked Martel; pretty much what he was fretting.

"Kratos. I told you to remove your Exsphere before playing with Lloyd!" the blue haired half-elf reprimanded.

"Why were you flying in the air with my nephew?! He could have fallen!" Mithos raged and crossed his arms.

"A-are you both all right?" Martel asked, more worried about both of their safety.

Kratos sighed, deciding to answer Yuan and Mithos' anger later. "We're fine, Martel, but look at this." The man pointed to the angelic wings of Lloyd, who was busy picking at his father's shirt than worried about what was around him. The other three stared at them, amazed and perplexed. Well, Yuan figured it would happen sometime soon, Martel smiled and Mithos blinked.

"Wait, he has angel wings?" The blond-haired uncle asked. "He doesn't have an Exsphere like us, though."

"Mithos, his parents are half angels, there's no doubt he was born as one, too." Yuan said. "Of course, I had a feeling."

"Wonderful!" Martel beamed brightly. She took her son from Kratos, stroking the toddler's hair. Lloyd purred in affection, loving his mother's attention. Before anyone knew it, he was out like a light. "I think that's enough activity for him today." The green-haired woman said, laughing. With a light stroke of his back, Lloyd's wings disappeared in a light flash, thankfully before any of the villagers took notice.

While Martel left to take Lloyd inside, Yuan and Mithos ganged up on the human angel as he dismissed his wings. He sighed, closing his eyes.

Oops…

* * *

Galdr: Yeah, I totally took the last bit from the manga. xD Just altered it a little and yeah. Oh yeah, and babies…Being with my niece for four years of her life, I know _exactly_ how they eat when they're about 1 or 2 years old. Ugh, it grosses me out, too. –shudders-

Review replies!

**GrinningCheshireAmy:** Thank-you for your compliment and taking the time to read and review this. :D In the first paragraph, I was actually having Yuan be about the same age as Kratos, since I have no idea if Yuan is older or if Kratos is older. Never saw it in the game… Anyway, yeah, I'll go fix that. I was a bit in a hurry to post that since I was going to work yesterday and didn't want to waste anymore time. Ha-ha, I should have…gone over it one more time, though. My bad. Well, my aim is to end this story around the fifteenth chapter, if it gets that far. I type a lot, so it just might. Anyway, thanks for your review, I kindly appreciate it.

**Deco (Guest):** Thank-you for taking the time to read and send in a reply my good sir or ma'am. While I haven't seen any Kratos/Martel based-like pairing stories yet (because I haven't bothered to look) I guess mine's the first on that. As for Lloyd being the Chosen, there's a few of them out there already. xD I'm not the first. Anyway, I hope you enjoy Chapter 2. I'll most likely have Chapter 3 up pretty soon, where things get more action-y and fun.

To other readers, please leave a review if you like!


	3. Catastrophic Separation

[What-if] What if Martel was Lloyd's mother? What if he was born a few years before the Kharlan War? What if Lloyd unintentionally became the next Chosen? Tales of Symphonia "what-if", partially follows the game/manga/OVA. [AU]

Chapter three, here it is; my favorite chapter so far, since it has action in it, a little. I don't own Tales of Symphonia (almost typed "Sylvarant" lol. Tales of Sylvarant.) or the characters. Just this fanfiction idea. For some odd reason, I was listening Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness music while typing this…Oh well, whatever. Review response's are at the bottom as last time. Last note, Kratos having an allergic reaction to tomatoes was funny. I searched the ToS archives to make sure no one else had that idea, but sadly, someone else did. ThePurpleRose, I will credit for the idea then, since I'm not the first.

Enjoy.

* * *

-x-x-x-

The Goddess's Son of Mana

**Chapter 3: Catastrophic Separation**

-x-x-x-

A couple days after Lloyd turned two years old, the small group of friends decided to leave Iselia and begin their travels again. Kratos didn't really agree on leaving with the young Lloyd in tow and his wife seemingly echoed that. However and somehow, Mithos begged and pleaded, namely saying "Lloyd will have to know what the rest of the world looks like when he gets older, so we may as well take him around now!" comment. It was true; eventually the toddler would grow older and adventure the world alongside his parents of course. Yuan minded as well, not wanting his godson exposed to the dangers of the world yet either, but Mithos was serious about his idea. After some thought, they went along with the suggestion, but would stop in the nearest town if something happened to Lloyd. The day they set off was warm and sunny to mimic the two-year-old's attitude and his uncle's as well.

During the travels from Iselia to Triet, they encountered a strange monster, or rather, a strange species. It was a small bird, appearing like hawks of sorts, but seemed friendly and understood the human language. Strangely enough, the green and white bird flew towards Kratos, perching itself upon his shoulder. The swordsman blinked in curiosity as did everyone else, except Lloyd. He wanted to grab the bird and mangle it with his grubby little hands, as he normally does things. As odd as that was, the green and white bird chirped, making Kratos unknowingly flinch. Deep down, he thought he heard someone talk to him. During his confusion, as with the group's, the bird landed to the ground near Lloyd before assuming another shape?

"Whoa…" Mithos blinked, amazed.

"It's…a shape shifting creature?" Yuan wondered.

"…" Kratos dotted silently. "It's taking on another form." He said, wondering how he knew that.

"This is a protozoan." Martel began, watching as the eyes of her companions quizzically stared at her. "They are ancient creatures that turn into another creature. I believe the first form is a fish, then it's a bird, then it's a dog, and lastly, it can become a human being. I have heard about them when we were in Heimdall."

"In the village of the elves?" Yuan asked rhetorically, with Mithos and Martel looking down. "Hm, that makes sense, but what is this protozoan doing out here?"

"Possibly relocating or migrating." Kratos added.

"Oh wow, look!" Mithos beamed and pointed out. The hawk-like bird creature was now in the shape of a dog-like creature, with mostly white fur upon its body. It had green patches of fur upon its chest, paws and tail. Its ears were wing-like and huge, almost as if it could fly with them. Lloyd squealed in delight and grabbed the protozoan's ears.

"Dwoggy!" He babbled happily.

The creature did nothing but grin. It liked being near this kid, and seemingly liked being drawn to the group, especially to the auburn-haired male. The dog-like creature barked happily, then whined to nuzzle Lloyd with its nose. The toddler giggled when the wet nose came in contact with his face. "Nwoshe!" Lloyd squeaked.

"Hm?" Martel wondered, kneeling down next to her son.

Yuan titled his head as he puzzled the random outburst of his godson's babble. "Noise?" He determined.

"No…he said "Noishe", and I was thinking of that, too." Kratos said, petting the dog's head. "Somehow, I felt it had told me that."

"That's strange." The blue haired half-elf admitted, though shrugged. "I suppose we keep him?"

"He doesn't appear dangerous and he seems to like Lloyd's company after all." Martel added with her usual smile. "All right then, Noishe comes with us." Her son twinkled in delight, being allowed to climb upon the dog's back and squeak happily. Well, that was that. The group of five was now six.

-x-x-x-

"Come on, Lloyd! Try and catch Uncle Mithos!" the blond beamed, running slowly so the clumsy child could catch up. It had been around five weeks since they had befriended Noishe and traveled the through the Triet desert and the Ossa Trail. They were in a bit of a clearing in the open, and Mithos took it upon himself to play with Lloyd as everyone was getting camp together. Noishe, however, was being the self proclaimed "guard dog" to make sure the boys didn't wander too far, and obviously stalked them when they managed to sway from his sight.

"Waaah!" Lloyd cried as he fell down, unable to get an inch closer to his laughing uncle. Mithos stopped, turned around and lifted the brunet to his feet. The toddler was almost in tears due to his stumble, his face lightly covered in dirt as well as his clothes.

"It's okay, Lloyd. You're okay, don't cry." Mithos cooed, brushing the dust off his nephew.

"No wanna pway that game no mwore." Lloyd pouted, crossing his tiny arms.

"Okay okay. We'll play something else. Hm, how about I help you use your wings to fly, Lloyd!"

"Fwy?" The boy repeated, albeit not correctly.

Mithos nodded. "Yeah! You have wings like me, Mommy, Daddy and Uncle Yuan!"

"Rweawy?" Lloyd tilted his head curiously. "How I have wings?"

"Uh, because your mommy and daddy have wings so you got yours from them." The blond tried explaining as easily as he could. Before the boy could ask how, Mithos said, "Now watch me." The toddler in his new red shirt watched as his uncle collected mana from his being and from his back, were transparent, purple-pinkish wings that illuminated in shades of a rainbow. They were shaped like a fairy's more or less, but provided the blond the ability to float and fly. Lloyd clapped in delight, watching his uncle as if he were some programmed television show. Mithos' wings were a sign of purity of his heart, despite his life before he met his friends.

"I wanna try!" Lloyd beamed as he shot up from his sitting position, closing his eyes tight, crunching up his hands into small fists. When nothing happened after one full minute, the brunet gave up. "I can't do it!" He cried.

"You just have to think about your wings, Lloyd." Mithos said quickly before his wailing got louder. "Don't think too hard or you can't control the mana around you."

"Huh? What's mwana?"

Crap. Mithos groaned to himself. He forgot the child had no idea what mana was. He knew his sister and brother-in-law would have told him when he reached a certain age, but now that the topic was on the toddler's mind, it wouldn't go away any sooner than his birthday cake. Scratching his head and with a low sigh as well as bracing himself for more rapid questions, the blond haired half-elf began, "It's the funny little feeling you get when you feel something in the air but can't grab it."

"Why I not grab it?"

Here we go. "I mean, you can't grab it with your hands. You have to think about it, Lloyd."

"Why?"

"Because it's invis—you can't see it with your eyes." He caught himself before he mentioned the word 'invisible'. It would have caused another train of questions and Mithos didn't know how much longer he could keep this up.

"Why?" Lloyd repeated himself, staring curiously at his uncle, who obviously knew a lot. "You know a lot. More than Daddy, Uncle Mitos!"

"Mithos." The blond corrected.

"Mi…tos!" Lloyd chirped. His uncle face palmed, deciding to ignore that incorrect version of his name. Lloyd was learning anyway, so it'd be awhile before he properly learned everyone's name. The boy giggled and for a second, Mithos believed this had distraction the brunet from his rapid questioning of mana. Good so far—or so he thought. "Uncle? Why I not feel mwana? Why mwana not see?" He asked.

_I just jinxed myself…_ Mithos grumbled lightly then smiled. "You can't see it yet because you're too little. But when you get bigger, you'll be able to see lots of mana from everything!"

This caused Lloyd to smile wider. "Rweawy?! I see mwana when I get bigger?"

"Yup!"

"Yay!"

"So, Lloyd. Just think about your wings for now and they'll come out. Try it."

"But. I not know what they lwook like." He admitted. It was true; he had never seen his wings before and vaguely remembered anything that occurred when he was one-years-old.

"You don't know what they look like?" Mithos mused a little, getting an idea. "Okay, Lloyd. Think about wings that look like mine except only blue."

"Bwue? Like sky?" The toddler pointed to the clear sky above them.

"Yup, just like that color! Can you do that?"

The brunet looked down for a second, frowning. "I…I try uncle."

"Okay, go ahead. I'm right here so don't be scared, okay?"

"Mmhmm." Lloyd mumbled, closing his eyes again. His tiny hands didn't ball up into fists this time, but it was tempting to. He thought about his uncle's purply-pink wings, how they looked like, to the best of his ability. He then thought about them being as blue as the sky he had just seen. As he relaxed his body, something began welling up within him. He felt it, and the presence expanded, now leaving a tickling feeling on his back. The feeling then opened up like a story book, one on the left, the other on the right, and connected with the flow of the boy's mana. Lloyd gasped as he jolted his head upward, opening his eyes as quickly as he did. The expression of the tickle feeling caused him to flush in embarrassment. "U-uncle! I felt a tickle on me!" He cried, his eyes watering. He had no idea what just happened.

"It's okay Lloyd! It was just you focusing on your ma—on your powers." Mithos said, catching himself again. He definitely didn't want to repeat the mana questioning episode again.

"Wh-what?"

"Look, Lloyd, behind you."

Reluctantly, the toddler did so, his misting eyes now finding a pair of blurry appendages behind him. They were small, and shaped differently than his uncle's, but they were there! He rubbed his eyes, getting rid of his tears, focusing clearly on his bluish-green wings. They were transparent like Mithos', but had diamond-like patterns sketched upon them. The top portion of his wings were blue, which then towards the center of them, a gradient of light blue, which turned to a light shade of green. The green continued to grow lighter until it hit the bottom of the wings, ending in a pale, light green color, almost white. The colors upon the wings moved like waves did an ocean, glittering and sparkling as well. Lloyd gaped in surprise to see them, amazed.

"Those are your wings, Lloyd. They're pretty, huh?"

The boy turned around from his amazement, beaming brightly. "Yeah! Uncle teach Lloyd how wings grow!"

"Yeah! I did! I'll help you fly next time, okay?"

"Awwh! Why not now?" The boy pouted and complained.

"Well because your mommy and daddy would get very, very mad at Uncle for taking you too high up." Mithos explained carefully, pointing up to the sky as he verbalized. "When Mommy and Daddy say it's okay, then I'll take you. I promise!"

"Okay!" The boy, easily persuaded, chirped. Noishe approached them as they were laughing together, the protozoan nodded for them to follow him. Apparently, the campsite was finished and Martel had made lunch. Mithos placed his nephew on Noishe's back and withdrew his wings. Lloyd quizzically wondered how he did that, staring all the while at the blond. "Uncle? How you do that?" He pointed out as they began walking towards the camp. There were a few trees about and they lit up with the illumination of Lloyd's light from his wings.

"How I put my wings away?"

"Uh-huh."

"Hm, well, Lloyd, you just have to think about it."

"Why thwink?"

"Because it you don't think about them going away, they'll stay out. And then you'll get really, really sleepy if they stay out for too long." Mithos said, explaining mana exhaustion in small words the toddler could understand. He saw Lloyd's pale expression, patting the child on the head. "Lloyd, they won't go away forever if you make them go away. They'll still be there, but just…they'll be playing hide-n-seek for a long time until you want them out again."

"O-oh." The boy seemingly understood. "So, I thwink about them hide?"

"Mmhm. Go ahead."

The brunet closed his eyes again, now thinking of his wings going away and hiding. It took quite a moment for the child to get used to the mana withdrawing back into his small body, remaining still like water does in an unmoved cup. He gasped again, not feeling the wings behind him anymore, but rather, inside him. He shook the awkward feeling away, noticing the light faded off. His wings were gone now. As much as they felt weird, he enjoyed their presence, feeling one step safer and they also felt normal. Now, he felt incomplete for some reason and frowned unintentionally. Mithos smiled proudly at his nephew, rubbing his head affectionately. "Good job, Lloyd. When we're done with lunch, you can show Mommy, Daddy, and Uncle Yuan. And don't worry; your wings will always be there. You just have to think about them."

"Oh! O-okay!" the child giddily exclaimed.

When the three returned to the campsite, they sat down near the fire, Lloyd sandwiched between his parents, Mithos sitting next to Kratos and Yuan next to Martel. Noishe sat by Yuan, who gave the protozoan dog a scratch to the ear. Lunch had been brewed beef stew, without tomatoes, as the last time she made some, Kratos nearly died due to an allergic reaction and Lloyd almost followed suit. The boy got a rash instead of falling over like his father. So, tomatoes were taken off the menu from then on. When everyone had their bowl full of the delicious stew, including Noishe, a conversation started.

"So, where's our next stop?" Yuan asked as he spooned himself with the stew.

"I was thinking we could show Lloyd Palmacosta first." Kratos said as he observed a map in his hands. The boy in question sloppily ate his beef stew, which still caused Mithos and Yuan to cringe. The child had slightly outgrown his messy, disgusting eating habits from a year ago, but they all hadn't gone away. Even with Martel's motherly help, the brunet was still messy.

The blue-haired half-elf nodded. "Ah, the city built on the water."

"Sounds fun!" Mithos lightly beamed, trying to ignore his nephew's slurping. "We should go!"

Kratos looked up from the map. "Martel, what do you think?" The green-haired half-elf smiled lightly as she whipped out her usual wet cloth—though this was a new one—and began wiping down the messy, young angel from his constant spilling. She had been listening and was in the process of thinking. Palmacosta was usually shined upon with great weather and it would be a good idea to show Lloyd the ocean and it would be a great change in their menu to add fish to it. Her pale, gold eyes found her husband's, that smile never fading.

"I think it's a wonderful idea. It would also be a wise idea to show him real boats and ships, too. Learning never hurts." The goddess-like woman laughed angelically. Noishe grunted in response, seemingly agreeing with their traveling plans. The protozoan actually had no objections this far anyway. "Then, that settles it then. Lloyd, do you want to go see the ocean?" The slurping boy looked up from his bowl, clueless.

"What oshen, Mommy?" He wondered, obviously pronouncing the word 'ocean' incorrectly.

"It's a big, big place with lots of water, honey. You'll see a lot of swimming fish and we'll see boats, too."

"Boats? Wike my toy boat?"

"Mmhm."

"So, oshen just big bathtwub?" He asked next.

"Yup! That's all it is!"

"Okay!" He didn't need much convincing. Everyone shared a chuckle after Lloyd's reply, resuming their beef stew for a few minutes again. Once lunch was over, Kratos volunteered to clean off their bowls and utensils at the nearest stream, taking Noishe with him. When the auburn haired man was out of earshot—namely because Kratos was an angel and angels had exceptional hearing—Mithos eyed Yuan and his sister, beginning a new conversation with the two.

"Sis, Yuan. Lloyd has to show you something." Mithos said, smiling.

"What?" Both chimed together.

The blond turned to Lloyd, who was equally clueless. "Lloyd, show them your wings." Getting it now, the brunet giggled, now closing his eyes. It wasn't as tight as before; he appeared relaxed this time though his hands twisted to ball up when he focused. The mana connection hit him like a wave again, exerting itself and expanding, flowing and shaping into the illuminate diamond-patterned, dove-like wings they all knew too well. When it was finished, the boy opened his eyes and arms, laughing. "Ta-daaaah!" He beamed the wings flapped whimsically behind him.

"Look, Mommy!" He chirped as he rushed to her, hugging her. Martel smiled in delight, rubbing his head.

"I see them, Lloyd. They're so beautiful."

"He learned how to release them himself?" Yuan asked Mithos who shook his head.

"No. I showed him how to do it, and then it came naturally, really. Lloyd's really something special, isn't he?" The blond smiled.

Yuan, staring at him, then to Martel giggling with Lloyd, smiled himself. His coveting had returned and he mentally slapped himself out of it. "You're right. He _is_ special. We must take good care of him." The blue-haired half-elf stroked Lloyd's hair after Martel, chuckling when the boy attempted to flap his small wings.

"When I get bigger, Uncle Mitos show me how fwy!" the toddler exclaimed excitedly. He released himself from his mother's grasp and began running around in circles with his arms out like an airplane. The young mother eyed her brother after this, a questionable expression ever-so present on her face. "You're going to show him how to fly?" The blond nodded proudly, a determined expression locked on.

"I know you don't want him to be up so high, Sis. But, look at him. He's very happy. If I tell him no, he'll just cry…"

"Yes…I worry about that. But, Mithos promise me it won't be too high for him." His sister said.

"I won't, I promise."

At this moment, Kratos returned to see everyone sitting around, having ended the light conversation. He also spotted his son running around in circles with his arms out, obviously making himself dizzy. The boy kept running around almost nonstop, however it ended within two minutes. He was, fortunately for his parents, getting dizzy and spun out of control, landing on his rear. The boy's small head lightly spun, trying to snap out of the trance. "Whooaaaahhh I…I feel spinny." Lloyd mumbled, holding his head as much as he could. Sighing, Kratos handed the bowls to Yuan, who took them and began packing them into their traveling bag, and picked up his son. Feeling the ground leaving, Lloyd saw his father's concerned face before attempting to smile. "Daddy, I spin too much." He admitted truthfully. "My tummy hurts."

"Well, you shouldn't have…been running around like that." Kratos half lectured.

The child understood that and frowned. "Sowwy, Daddy." Martel stood up and approached her two boys, putting on a reassuring smile.

"Kratos."

"Yes, Martel?"

"Don't be so stiff with him. He's just a boy, not a soldier." She reminded.

"…Right." The man sighed a little before putting his son upon his shoulders. Instantly, as if a light switch turned on, the child forgot his worries and giggled. "We'll leave first thing in the morning tomorrow."

Hours later, the sun had set and the shadows of the night were casting over them. Noishe had curled up near the new, brimming fire, sleeping softly. Mithos was next to the protozoan dog, simply relaxing. Yuan and Kratos were still awake, being on alert for monsters or the like while Martel was soothing little Lloyd to sleep. The boy exhausted himself, playing with Noishe and his uncle, though persisted to fight his sleep as any young child would. She finally got him to close his beady eyes and fall into a peaceful slumber in her arms using her motherly stroking of his hair, face, back and her angelic humming melody. Eventually Martel lied her son down on her sleeping bag, covering him up with his blanket snuggly. She remained by his side as she watched the three other males quietly.

The silence was cut by Yuan, who brushed his blue bangs from his face. "When do you think he'll lose his ability to sleep?" He asked randomly, though namely at the boy's parents. Martel blinked curiously and Kratos gave an askance gaze.

"I'm…not sure." Martel answered. "Perhaps when he is older, he will. He doesn't have an Exsphere like us, so it may come naturally for him."

"Then, he will lose his eating ability…" Kratos sighed. He had forgotten what being an angel meant, and with his son being one due to heritage, he'd likely lose his senses at a slower pace than he and the others did. What a shame. Martel apparently kept some of her abilities, such as eating and touch. At times, she could sleep, other times she couldn't; but Mithos, Yuan and Kratos couldn't sleep anymore. Were they different angels than Martel? The silence continued as the fire crackled and kept going; only the sounds of crickets chirped and the light breeze of the night could be heard.

Tomorrow…

They would head for Palmacosta, to show Lloyd the ocean.

-x-x-x-

**One Year Later**

-x-x-x-

"Mommy! Look at this!" Lloyd chirped, running towards a tall tree. It was bigger than any tree he'd ever seen or climbed. Since he had gotten used to his wings, just slightly, the brunet had been climbing every single tree his eyes snapped onto. Lloyd was wearing a long-sleeve white shirt, dark blue shorts, long white socks that stopped below his kneecaps and wore dark brown slip-ons. The small heel of the boy's shoes thundered against the bare ground when it connected, stopping when he paused at the huge tree. Lloyd was three years old now, and his vocabulary improved and increased. It was as if you were talking to a six year old stuck in a three-year-old's body. The child also showed a liking to the angelic language, being taught by his father and Yuan when he turned three years old. Lastly, the boy's vast amount of mana, as Yuan suspected, had doubled. It was not only rivaling Kratos', but barely surpassed the auburn's own.

He knew the boy would need to learn some arts of magic for defense, if the time ever arose. When the blue-haired half-elf approached the situation with Martel and Kratos, they understood, however, Kratos was a little nervous, if one could say, about the effect it would have on the boy.

_"What should I teach him? Attacking magic or healing magic?" Yuan asked, eying the parents. "He'll more or less get the hang of the angelic techniques later, but right now, is if we can show him how to use the basics. He'll be more adept in learning them later on since it'll already be registered in his mind." Martel and Kratos exchanged glances before turning back to Yuan. The half-elf man was serious, due to his tone of voice, and would most likely teach his godson magic regardless of their answer. _

_"…How about both, then?" Kratos asked, Yuan blinking._

_"You want him to learn…both?" _

_"Well, whether we say no or not, you'd show him how to do it anyway." Martel said, smiling. _

_"…Eh…"_

_"Yuan. If you want to show him how to use magic, you're more than welcome to. But, please don't do anything reckless..." The goddess-like woman added. _

_Taking this as a yes, Yuan nodded. "All right then. I'll only show and teach him the basics. Now then, if you'll excuse me, I'll be taking my godson for a walk." He smiled, getting up from his spot. He spotted Lloyd messing with Noishe's ears, calling the boy to follow him. The brunet quickly abandoned Noishe—after saying goodbye to the protozoan—eagerly trailing after his godfather excitedly. Kratos and Martel watched them go, both was deeming the outcomes of what could possibly go wrong. Though, Lloyd was in good hands, and they shouldn't worry. _

Since then, Yuan had been teaching Lloyd basic spells such as First Aid and Fire ball. Lloyd mastered First Aid easily but stumbled on the Fire ball spell for awhile. He managed to get it within the few hours Yuan was coaching him.

Today, the group stopped at this particular tree as Lloyd noticed it, gleaming with glee. "It's so big! I want to climb it!" The child giggled.

"No Lloyd, you'll get hurt." Kratos said in his fatherly tone.

"Awwh…" the boy pouted but obeyed anyway.

They moved from the tree into a field of flowers, similar to when Mithos discovered them three and a half years ago. Except, this time, the flowers were yellow instead of white. Lloyd rushed towards them, however, not before clumsily falling down and landing on his face. Martel walked over to him, lifting the child up and drying his light tears from his eyes. She smiled reassuringly and ran her motherly fingers through his wild locks of light brown hair. "It's all right, Lloyd. It's just a small scrape." Martel told the sniffing boy. He was sitting down, his mother holding his leg carefully as a little bit of mana formed into a white ball of magic.

"**First Aid**," she casted the light magic poured out and began mending the child's minor injury. The sniffing boy stopped, watching as his "owwie" vanished, not even leaving a scar behind.

"Mommy, thank-you." Lloyd said as he dried the remainder of his tears.

Martel smiled, nodding her welcome to Lloyd who resumed his eagerness to get to the field of flowers. Martel, now twenty-three, watched as her son pranced around with Noishe. Mithos, now fourteen-year old, Kratos and Yuan shared the same age, both being twenty-five. All three adults and teenager were on edge, however. Ever since they learned of an oncoming war between the kingdoms of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, they hurriedly attempted to reach Heimdall, the village of the elves. However, due to the discrimination of half-elves consuming majority of the world and by this, both Yggdrasil siblings was blamed for a misfortune they didn't cause. They were banished from their once-home, now leaving them homeless.

Through another series of events, they tried to save an injured messenger, who had come from the kingdom of Tethe'alla. He left them a few words, mumbling, "Tethe'alla is in danger…Sylvarant will invade soon…"

Just as they feared; a war was coming.

"Sister, we have to do something about this." Mithos said as they sat down. "We can't let the kingdoms fight because of magitechnology!"

"What can we do? We're only a small group." Yuan reminded him.

"And whatever we do, we put Lloyd in danger." Kratos added, trying to subdue his fatherly tone. "I do not want Lloyd to be in the midst of this."

"I want to help, but Lloyd…He means so much to me. To all of us." Martel spoke up next. "I can't put him in harm's way even in the slightest."

Mithos glanced over to his nephew, whom was oblivious to every little thing, then glared at the ground. "I…I want this to be a peaceful world for Lloyd to live in. For all of us to live in. We can't just sit here and do nothing. We have to do _something_! Please!" He shot up, staring at his older companions. "Kratos, you've been training me with swords. I know I won't be a burden. I'm adept in my magic. I won't sit by and watch as the world crumbles to nothing! Aselia has to live on!"

"Mithos…" Martel quietly spoke his name, watching her brother stand there, determined.

"I only trained you in swordsmanship and toughened your magic up to help us fight in case we were ever attacked without notice." Kratos said, eying the teenager. "Mithos, calm down, we'll…think of something. Right now, we should try to warn the Tethe'allans about the invasion." The blond smiled; at least they were going to do something other than sit on their asses and do nothing.

-x-x-x-

It was all for nothing. Kratos, Mithos, Yuan, Martel, along with Lloyd and Noishe, had traveled so far for two weeks to reach the capitol of Tethe'alla to warn them of the oncoming invasion of Sylvarant, only to be met with rejection; rejection because of their race. They were soon escorted out of the capitol and ordered to never return with their 'outrageous lies'. It was stupid and it fueled more rage into the teenager of the group. "How could they do that to us!?" He roared, glaring at nothing in particular. "How could they ignore us!? We were telling the truth! We wouldn't have come all this way just to lie!"

"Mithos, calm down." Martel tried to soothe her brother. "They have their reasons for not believing us…"

"By outcasting us because we're half-elves?! That isn't justice, Sister!"

"Well, whether we like it or not, they won't listen to reason. If what we heard from that messenger, then we better get ourselves out of this city." Yuan said urgently.

"I agree. I do not want Lloyd to be caught in this any longer than he already is." Kratos added. Said boy was sleeping in his mother's grasp.

"H-how can you both be so calm about this? They just—!" Mithos started but was stopped by Kratos' glare.

"We can't do anything."

"We can intercept it, though." The blue-haired half-elf began, gaining the attention of the others. "I know it won't be much, but if we can manage to stop it even for a little while, perhaps the Tethe'allans will realize it and mobilize their knights in time." He sighed as he caught the glare of Kratos, an extremely worried glance from Martel, and a half-beaming expression from Mithos. Noishe whined to object, however. "It's…a suggestion."

"Yeah." The blond agreed. "If we can slow down Sylvarant's forces, then maybe there can be a way to stop this."

"No." Kratos voiced bluntly. "Any move we make puts Lloyd in danger."

"He'll be with Noishe. He can take him far from the fights!" Mithos attempted, however the father wasn't budging.

"No, I simply cannot allow it."

They were getting nowhere, but eventually, in the end, the group decided to leave the capitol. They couldn't do anything else while being there and it wasn't good for Lloyd, either. It was cold and the boy didn't have long pants either. This was going from bad to worse; how could they stop this all from happening? What could they do now? They were running out of options, and had slim chances of ever finding anymore to boot. Kratos' eyes fell upon his wife and child, recalling the time in which they had all been so happy together. Their smiles, the friendship; was it all going to end soon? No…There was something that had to be done.

Suddenly, as they left the city, Mithos brought up an idea. "We should go make pacts with the Summon Spirits." He began. "We can stop this consumption of mana. The magitechnology…we have to stop it all."

"And what, pray tell, would us making pacts with the summon spirits do?" Yuan wondered, raising an eyebrow.

Mithos looked down, fists clenched tightly. He hadn't been expecting that question. However, he soon thought of something else, a world in which the magitechnology would no longer absorb mana. To preserve the world, but at the same time, separate it into halves so the warring could stop. It was clever, simple, and it could be possible! He turned to the group, smiling. "We split the world in half. I'll make the pacts with the summon spirits. Then, we can split the world in half! That way, we'll be stopping the magitechnology, the war and then…!"

"Are you insane?" Yuan questioned the child.

"No. I'm simple!" Mithos snapped. "I'm only looking out for ours and the world's best interests! Come on! We don't know it'll work until we try! Please!"

"It'll put Lloyd in danger." The parents of the child stated, however Kratos' voice took more hold on it.

"He'll be with us and we can protect him!" Mithos insisted.

"No, absolutely _not_." Kratos glared.

-x-x-x-

Unfortunately for Kratos, they went along with Mithos' crazy idea of making pacts with the summon spirits, taking Lloyd along with them. Martel was nervous and uncomfortable with the decision herself, having not agreed to it. However, her brother had a point; they couldn't sit and do nothing while the world went to war because of magitechnology. As they were already in Tethe'alla, the group first ventured to the nearest summon spirit's location. First was Volt, the Summon Spirit of Lightning, Gnome, the Summon Spirit of Earth, Shadow, the Summon Spirit of Darkness, and Celsius, the Summon Spirit of Ice. Out of all the Summon Spirits thus far, Lloyd was terrified of Shadow, and Mithos made sure the spirit was as far from his nephew as possible. It was a month later when they were on their way to Sylvarant to make pacts with the Sylvaranti spirits when they learned of Tethe'alla's capitol falling by the invasion of the other kingdom.

This more or less strengthened Mithos' will to continue making pacts in order to fulfill his goal.

Upon reaching Sylvarant, they first made their way towards Triet, to make a pact with Efreet, the Summon Spirit of Fire first. Once the pact was made, the desert around Triet seemingly became hotter for some reason. Not that it affected the group much, except Noishe. He wasn't an angelic being and therefore needed water. Lloyd, despite his inheritance, was grasping for water when given it. This had been his official second time through this desert, however, he had been younger the last time. Grateful they were out of the desert, they resumed their trek towards the next temple that held the next spirit. So far, the fights within the dungeon-like temples were easy, however on many accounts, Lloyd had been nearly targeted by random attacks by monsters. Kratos swore under his breath he would unleash Judgment upon any creature or thing that got within twelve feet of range near Lloyd.

Their next summon spirit was Undine, the Summon Spirit of Water, then Sylph, the Summon Spirit of Wind, the double Summon Spirits of Light, Luna and Aska, and lastly, Maxwell, an ancient spirit that keeps the city Exire aloft in the air. It had been a long and arduous journey, and by the time they were nearing the last summon spirit, Lloyd was nearing his fourth birthday. It was dangerous for him to be with them while they were venturing through the world, fending off monsters and soldiers alike, who would attack them, thinking they were the opposing kingdom's knights-in-disguise. The child grew terrified of every fight that started, but was lead off each time by Noishe as his parents, uncle and godfather fought to protect them. Lloyd had never seen any of the fights, and therefore, remained absentmindedly oblivious to danger. Regardless, he could tell something was wrong each time his family returned from their fights.

Still, his cheery attitude managed to cheer them up, reminding them one reason why they were doing this.

Through difficulties, the small family arrived at Origin's seal, the divine deity of mana eying them skeptically. He had four arms; two crossed over another, the other pair at his hips. He had long, dirty blond hair, narrow, green eyes, pointed ears and large, draconic-like wings behind him. Now this spirit, Lloyd was deathly afraid of, and to prove it, he hid behind his father's legs. Origin stared at each one of them, particularly at the toddler.

"**_What business do you have with me?_**" Origin asked.

"W…We have come to make a pact with you, Origin." Mithos answered, fighting off his own fear of the spirit.

"**_…Why seek me out for this pact, pray tell?_**"

The blond could feel the spirit's glaring green eyes upon his very soul, but kept strong. This was the last one, and then, they could save the world. "The world is going to war, Origin. Magitechnology is draining mana out of the Great Kharlan Tree, out of the world of Aselia. I've pledged my vow with each pact of the world. I want to save this world. I want to separate it to protect what mana is left in this world and preserve it." Mithos said, putting on a determined face. Origin, having listened to the young half-elf's words, stared half curiously at him. His eyes turned to Martel, then Yuan, then Kratos, and lastly, on Lloyd. The toddler gasped, hiding completely behind Kratos, scared. This man with strange four arms had a huge amount of mana and it was scaring him.

After what seemed to be forever of silence, Origin spoke, "**_Give me your vow._**" He was serious? Mithos nodded to Kratos who had to waste a second prying Lloyd off his leg.

"Daddy!" The boy cried as his mother held him instead.

"Daddy's going to be fine, Lloyd." Martel assured him.

"I vow to separate the mana links of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, to separate both kingdoms into two worlds, to prevent magitechnology from consuming mana. I vow that this will stop the war that is terrorizing the world, and I will use the Great Seed to restore mana back to the world." Mithos said, looking at Kratos. "This is both of our vows. I wish for Kratos Aurion to hold the pact with you, Origin." The king of the summon spirits turned to the auburn haired man, locking gazes before speaking again.

"**_It shall be done._**" Origin said as his entire being turned into a flash of light, which fell upon Mithos and Kratos—the latter kneeling down once the vast amount of mana had been absorbed into his body. However, while Mithos was the pact holder, Kratos now became the seal of Origin to further more hold the vow made. Origin reappeared before them, looking down at the group. "**_I have your vow. Do not break our trust, Mithos Yggdrasil._**" The king of summon spirits said. The blond-haired half-elf nodded, bowing.

"You have my word, Origin. Thank you."

Kratos stood up from having knelt over, due to the huge surge of mana that flooded into his body. He looked towards his wife and son, the latter having tears in his eyes. The swordsman approached them, hugging them in a tight embrace. Their journey for the seals had been over, and now, it was time to stop the war. This was something Kratos was not fond of, having his wife on the battlefield, should they get involved, and his son nearby where he could get hurt, despite Noishe's willingness to protect him. Yuan, being the silent one in this, stared at the scene of the couple and their son before turning back to Mithos, who was now asking Origin something.

"**_…To create a sword able to split the worlds apart, is that what you ask for, Master of the Pact?_**"

"Yes. In order to fulfill the vow, I must sever the worlds." Mithos said with his determined voice again.

"**_…Very well. It shall be done._**" Origin spoke, closing his eyes. "**_Master of the Pact, close your eyes._**" The blond half-elf did as instructed. A large, ball of mana appeared from nowhere between Mithos and Origin, taking shape very slowly. "**_This is what I can offer to you, Master of the Pact, Mithos Yggdrasil. This sword, called the Eternal Sword—_**" the shape of the mana's light now forging into a tall edge, "**_—shall do whatever you ask of it. It has the power to do any bidding you claim. It will follow your heart's desires._**" Once Origin stopped talking, the ethereal appearing weapon magically hovered in place, a golden aura emitting from it. Mithos opened his eyes, feeling the instant connection with this sword. This was his now; a weapon capable of nearly anything his heart desired, which included splitting the world in half.

"Origin… Thank-you."

"**_There is but a promise I must ask of you before you leave._**" Origin locked gazes firmly with Mithos'. "**_By having this sword and my pact with your vow, do you, Mithos Yggdrasil, promise to use the Great Seed to restore mana into the world?_**"

Kratos, Martel and Yuan stared at the blond-haired teenager who nodded. "I swear upon my life that I will."

As if the next thing was impossible, Origin smiled, albeit only lightly. "**_I have your word, Master of the Pact. Farewell._**" In a flash of light, Origin vanished, with the entire area's glow dying out and replaced with the light of the setting sun. The Eternal Sword vanished as well, but Mithos knew he could call it anytime he wanted or needed it. After a moment of silence, he turned to his family, smiling.

"It's time to do this. Come on!"

-x-x-x-

"Guuaaaah!" a man yelled as a sword pierced through his heart, falling to his death. The blade was orange-red in color, shaped oddly, but its owner knew it well. The man turned around to find his companion not too far, having slain down another that tried to attack him. This bloodshed was getting them nowhere! But it was necessary.

"Kratos! There's too many of them!" Yuan told the auburn haired man, who barely responded. He was still in shock, not because of the spilled blood that bathed the ground. It was not because of cannons firing mana blasts every ten minutes from the opposing sides. It was not because of people were dying before his very hands, or the fact that fire burned all around them. It had been much, much worse than that. The man gripped his Flameberge, snarling as another soldier tried to attack him foolishly. "Kratos!" Yuan shouted, trying to snap the man out of his deathly daze. Fiery irises locked glances with emerald ones, the blue-haired half-elf glaring at him. "Kratos! She's going to be fine and we'll find Lloyd! Trust me!"

"…" The auburn dotted wordlessly.

"We have to retreat for now! Let us stop this senseless fighting and find Lloyd! Come on!"

"They need to pay. Every last one of them." Kratos replied darkly, anger unleashing with every word. "I cannot believe…they stabbed her. And right in front of him! I'll kill them all I'll—!"

"Kratos! Snap out of it! I'm just as angry as you are, but this won't help Martel! Let's go."

Before the duo could leave, they were attacked by another onslaught of soldiers.

-x-x-x-

**Four hours earlier…**

-x-x-x-

"Come on Lloyd, run!" Martel said with panic as she grabbed her son's hand and began running off from the battlefield. Yuan, Mithos and Kratos had the soldiers blocked off from attacking her and the child. They were told to run far as they could, and they would catch up. Noishe was behind them, making sure the mother and son were safe.

"Mommy! My…my legs hurt!" Lloyd cried. It made matters worse when he tripped over a tree stump and fell down. "Owwie!" The boy wailed. Martel quickly picked the boy up and continued running, occasionally looking back to see if her husband, brother and Yuan were coming. All she could hear with her angelic hearing were clangs of steel meeting one another, groans of men dying and the cannons firing off in the fair distance. None of these sounds were good news to her, but she remained strong. She knew the three were strong enough and would be coming back. Her thoughts were interrupted by the wailing of Lloyd.

"Mommy! Owww! It hurts! Where's Daddy? Waaaah!" The boy balled out crying.

"Shhh, it's going to be okay, Lloyd." Martel whispered in a hushed tone, trying to calm the toddler down. She ran until she could no longer move for awhile, panting as she put her back up to a tree bark. With her leftover strength, she casted First Aid upon Lloyd's injuries, hoping to keep him quiet and calm until it was safe. "Don't cry. Daddy, Uncle Yuan and Uncle Mithos will be back soon, okay? They're keeping the bad men away."

"Why…Why are the bad men trying to hurt us, Mommy?" Lloyd asked, worried.

Before Martel could answer, voices shouted, "There's someone over here!" The green-haired half-elf woman panicked, her grip on her son tightening as she raised her staff in defense, forcing Lloyd behind her. Soon enough, three soldiers appeared, now grinning when they spotted the woman and her child, along with a growling Noishe. "Well, well, well. Look at what we have here! Looks like some wench and her pet, heh. Now where might you be going?"

"I have nothing to say to you." Martel spoke deeply, her once cheerful face now changed into a serious compression. While she was loving and caring most of the time, nothing would get to her child.

"Oh? What a rude tone you have there. I don't like it." One of the soldiers grunted. Another noticed the shivering, panicking child behind the woman's legs. He noticed the round ears of the child, and the pointed ones of hers, growling. "You're a half-elf, aren't you?!"

"And what if I am?"

"Heh, I didn't know half-elves were capable of stealing human children. I bet it's some way to get into the cities. Well, look here, missy. Hand over the child and we might spare you." This only made Martel's grip on her son tightened, the boy whimpering in fear. The men in armor were scary to him, and were trying to come after him? His eyes began to water again, backing away and closer to his mother as much as possible. "Mommy. I don't want the bad men to take me away!"

"I won't let them, Lloyd." Martel told her son truthfully, keeping her eyes upon the soldiers.

"Well then, I suppose you'll have to die! Haaaah!" The first soldier rushed forward, only to be met with Noishe's huge claws. The second and third soldier raced around him to jab their swords at Martel, only to have the woman avoid with ease, even with Lloyd attached to her leg. The boy was crying loudly, which the woman herself wanted to stop fighting and assure him everything was fine. Unfortunately, she couldn't do that. Martel used the end of her staff to knock one soldier harshly to the ground, then used the upper end to smack the other down as well. She backed up, her pale gold eyes focused on their recovering movements. At least, not for long; a magic incantation circle appeared below her as she began her spell. After the quick chant, she shouted, "**Holy Lance**!" The light magic spell collided with the two soldiers who attempted hers and Lloyd's life, finishing them.

Noishe returned to her side, having clawed up the first soldier, noticing the wailing boy on the woman's leg, stuck as if he clued himself there. Lloyd had calmed down very slightly when Martel was using her spell in the angelic language, being soothed by it as it reminded him of her singing at night. The half-elf woman carefully pried her son off her leg, holding him gently in her arms as she and Noishe walked away from the scene. "Lloyd's it's all right. The bad men are gone now." The protozoan dog walked ahead, just in case more soldiers tried to ambush them in the thick woods, where they would hide for now. She assured him with a loving smile as always and it calmed the child down for the moment. However, she felt it was not yet over…

"Woman! Hold!" Another round of soldiers flooded from nowhere. This time, they were Tethe'allan knights, which wasn't much a surprise. Lloyd gasped again as once again, Martel held onto him. However, she was now at a disadvantage. She was holding the boy and would have a harder time avoiding their attacks if they ever get past Noishe. It was four of them this time, and would be a lot tougher. Still, she wasn't going to give up. "It's a half-elf! Get her!"

"What about the child?"

"Who cares? Kill him, too!"

The four knights foolishly charged forward, two them mangled by Noishe however, and the other two advanced Martel. She used her staff to block off their attacks, swinging Lloyd onto her back. "Don't let go of me, Lloyd!" She ordered the toddler, who cried and held on as tight as he could. She parried one of the sword swings, using the end of her staff to bash their skulls in like last time. Unfortunately, these knights recovered faster than the last ones; they were getting up, only to be clobbered by Noishe's weight and attack. Good ole, Noishe. "Good boy, Noishe. Now let's get out of here before more come—"

"Mommy!" Lloyd yelled. The half-elf woman spun around instantly, time seemed to have slowed down. The soldier that Noishe attacked earlier had followed them! And in his hands, was his bloodied sword. He stabbed forward as time stopped instantly. Martel gaped, eyes widened as she spat blood from her mouth. The man's blade drove through her abdomen, bursting from the other side with blood. It splattered across the ground, onto the tree behind her and…onto Lloyd. The child had been nearly been dropped from her back, but he held on for dear life. The soldier's sadistic grin widened when he withdrew his weapon, watching the woman fall slowly. Martel landed on her left, cringing and coughing up more blood with the man towering over her. Her beautiful green hair was spotted in red blotches, sprawled out like a wild blanket.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha! Th-thought you got rid of me?! Damn half-elf!" The soldier spat.

Lloyd eventually let go of his mother's shoulders, looking down upon her pale, frail body, terror written all over his face. She wasn't moving at all. The brunet became truly terrified, wondering why his mother was so still. Why was she sleeping? "…M…Mommy?" He whispered, tears forming and rolling down his young face. "Mommy…get up! The bad man is here!"

"It's over, kid!" the soldier blared, laughing. "She's a goner, and so are you!" He reared his foot back and kicked the four-year-old far from the near dying woman's body. Lloyd cried for his life, rolling as he tumbled far. Noishe growled, now standing in front of the child defensively. Inwardly, he was annoyed at himself. How could he have let Martel get hurt? He was supposed to be protecting her! That wasn't all, though. "Martel!" Standing in the distance was Yuan, Mithos and Kratos. All three were in shock of what they had seen; this man had stabbed Martel and kicked Lloyd. The woman's name was called by the blue-haired half-elf.

The scene repeated itself inside Kratos' mind. Martel was stabbed, no—his _wife_ was stabbed! His son was kicked away from his mother. How could this man have done this? How? Why?! The human angel released himself from his shock, furious beyond any man's rage. How dare this bastard of a soldier attack _his_ family! He stormed over towards the soldier in a heartbeat, the Flamberge with him as his death-baring red eyes glared upon him to bring judgment. The Tethe'allan didn't last another second; the flame-based sword was quicker to his neck than a tornado rampaging through a city. New blood spilled and exploded over Kratos and the ground, however he had not a care. He was lost in his rage, lost in his fury, lost in his anger. It seemed as if his soul didn't exist any longer for a blink of a second. Mithos fell to his knees, his eyes watering up, looking at the fallen form of his sister.

Why did that man stab her? She was only with her child! She was only trying to protect his nephew. So, why?

Kratos dropped his sword, falling towards Martel, carefully turned her over, and cradling her body in his arms to see her face pale. He listened carefully and realized she was still alive! She still had time! "Mithos!" the swordsman shouted to the younger half-elf. "There's still time to save her! Hurry! Heal her!" He commanded. The boy shook from his shock, standing up clumsily as he raced over to his sister's presence. Yuan, also enraged at his ex-crush's near demise, went to check on Lloyd. The boy had only suffered a bump to his head, though he was out cold. Still alive, but he wouldn't be waking up anytime soon. The blue-haired man rubbed his godson's face, holding the precious boy close. He had seen everything; his mother being stabbed by the soldier, all the blood. His innocence would be cut deeply in half, and he blamed himself. He should have been there for them…This wouldn't have happened if he was…

Mithos began using his magic to heal his sister's grave wound as Kratos held her up, his grip on her hand tight as hers to his. It was almost like four years ago, when she giving birth to their son. The woman barely opened her pale golden eyes, straining to see her husband holding her close, her brother healing her and now Yuan with the unconscious Lloyd in his grasp. "Is…Lloyd…okay?" Martel asked softly, earning a nod from Yuan.

"He is just unconscious. He will recover, but it will be a little while." Yuan replied. Martel smiled weakly, watching her son for only a moment.

"…Please…bring him to me…"

Yuan obliged, bringing the boy to her level, having to kneel to his knees of course. The green-haired woman looked over her son, running her hand through his wild, light brown locks. She noticed her blood was upon the boy, his white shirt stained, and one of his shoes was missing. With the remainder of her magical power, Martel seemingly poured her soul into the boy, a golden light enveloping him completely. The aura around the child soon turned into a solid encasing of sorts, almost making Lloyd appear in a coma like a cocoon. Kratos, Yuan and Mithos stared in wonder at what she did, clueless and curious. Before they could ask, the solid encasing of Lloyd floated upwards slowly, then shot up into the sky disappearing from sight!

"M-Martel? What did you—?" Yuan mumbled but couldn't finish.

"I gave Lloyd the rest of…my mana." The woman replied weakly, her breath shortening. "…I…sent him…far from here…far away from this…war." She smiled again, placing her hand on Kratos' own. "…He…he will…be safe."

"…Martel."

"Kratos…I'm…so sorry."

"Don't apologize, save your energy. We'll get you somewhere safe to heal you and then we'll find Lloyd." The auburn stated firmly, believing it wasn't over yet.

"Sister! You're going to be fine! We won't let you die here!" Mithos told her, still using his magic on her wound. He noticed it wasn't working, that he was being depleted of mana each second as he poured his will into his sister's wound. Kratos began to help his student, applying magic to healing her grave injury as well.

"Mithos…Kratos…Yuan…" She called to each other their names, each male glancing to her worriedly. "I…wish we can all live in a world, free of discrimination. Where everyone can live happily together, whether they are spirits, elves, humans, dwarves or half-elves; a world in which…everyone can exist…equally."

"Sister, that is why we made pacts with the summon spirits! We are going to make that world, even though we must split it apart!" Mithos urged. "Martel, hang on! Please, please don't leave me!"

She closed her eyes, but smiled warmly. Tears were flooding from her eyes, her grip on Kratos' hand tighter than ever. "Kratos…Do…not give up… I love you, Kratos. Please…take care…of our little Lloyd."

"Martel, I love you too, I—" The man knew his angel senses were failing to keep his human traits off for good. Tears shed down his face, and they wouldn't stop. He felt if they stopped, Martel would disappear and be gone forever. "Martel…don't…don't let…"

"I'm…sorry Kratos…Mithos…Yuan… I'm so sorry… I'll…never forget your kindness, for your support, for your love. You never mistreated my brother and I. You never let discrimination get the best of you… And…Kratos, you gave me…the best gift of life…" She opened her eyes one last time, tears riding down her features. This warming smile was to her husband, her close, best friend. "You…gave me Lloyd. Our precious child…Please tell Lloyd…Mommy loves him so much. He…will be…so…ha…ppy." Kratos stared, horrified, the never-ending tears pouring out of his eyes, as his wife's hand slipped out of his slowly, her eyes closed and her last breath was given. No…No…This…this was a nightmare. This had to be a nightmare.

His heart stopped and Mithos gaped in fear. "Sister? Sister?! SISTER!" He yelled repeatedly, panicking and trying to shake her awake. Yuan looked away, fists clenched tightly together. Why did it have to be her? She was innocent to everything! And Lloyd! Where was he? How would they find him? "Wake up! Open your eyes! Sister!" Mithos cried again, crying. "…Wake up, please! I need you, Sister! I need you with me! Don't leave me! Sister! SISTER! No, come back!" Kratos could only stare at her unmoving body, feeling frozen there, trembling. His wife…was dead and his son was sent somewhere far by his wife's mana. In any way one would look at it, Kratos had virtually lost everything. His heart, his soul, his life… It vanished. If that wasn't the worst, Martel's body vaporized under her husband's grasp, leaving only her pure, blue jewel—her Exsphere.

Mithos gasped, shaking as he picked it up. He could feel her soul residing in it. It was her memento.

Sobbing, sniffing and standing up now, Mithos clutched the Exsphere in his hands tightly, but without breaking it. His mind was wrapped around this and her last words. Yes, he would split Sylvarant and Tethe'alla apart, to stop this war, to stop the magitechnology. But one thing was for certain he would do when that task was finished.

He would revive his sister.

* * *

Galdr: Oh my gosh, finally done. I know, it's all so sad, sorry. I was listening to Soul Poetry, a Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean song for the part where Martel dies. It seemed fitting. And yeah, Lloydie-boy is…gone. Whee! …I'm so evil. I spent from 11am this morning (12/13/2012) to 9:53pm to type all of this. xD It's over 9,000! No seriously.

Review responses!

**WakaBakaLaka (Guest):** Thanks for the review! Yuan? Forming Cruxis? Erm, that was a thought in my head actually, but I thought I'd keep Mithos on that one. xD Perhaps in another "version" of this, I could try that.

**Marina Ka-Fai:** Thank-you for your compliment/review! :D I was a little nervous if my interpretation of Martel/Kratos pairing would be…well…accepted in the ToS, uh…group of fan-fics I guess. I'm glad I'm one of your heroes. xD Thanks! Sadly, the Martel/Kratos pairing slightly ends at this chapter (three) but it'll be spoken about throughout the story.

Anyhoots, review this chapter if you all like! Thanks for any story faves/adds and whatnot! I appreciate them!


	4. The Chosen is His Son

[What-if] What if Martel was Lloyd's mother? What if he was born a few years before the Kharlan War? What if Lloyd unintentionally became the next Chosen? Tales of Symphonia "what-if", partially follows the game/manga/OVA. [AU]

Ah, chapter four. I tried pulling an all-nighter for this. Coming home from work after 12am and staying up til 4am typing. Yeah, I try. Oh yeah, don't worry about Lloydie boy. I would never kill off my favorite character prematurely. Wait, yes I would, in some cruel way. But, not this story. Somehow, listening to The Sacred Blacksmith OST helped with this chapter. Luke Ainsworth… -squeals like the fangirl she is- …I mean, enjoy this chapter. Review responses are at the bottom as before.

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-x-x-x-

The Goddess's Son of Mana

**Chapter 4: The Chosen is His Son**

-x-x-x-

"Eternal Sword! Hear my call!"

A golden light appeared, and within it, a magical sword of ethereal appeal materialized. "_Master of the Pact… What is your desire?_" A voice spoke.

"I want to separate the kingdoms of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla and make them into two different worlds; one opposite of each other. I wan to stop magitechnology from consuming mana from the Great Kharlan Tree."

"_If this is done, it will consume a vast amount of mana from your body as well as sever the ties of mana left in the worlds that had balanced. One world shall prosper with the preserve of mana left and the other in decline. One world shall wither while the other in abundance. The Great Kharlan Tree will have need of the Great Seed to restore mana into the world. Is this what you want?_"

"Yes it is. Do it now, Eternal Sword!"

A small silence until the sword began to glow again. "_Very well, Master of the Pact._"

Finally, the warring of the kingdoms of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla ended, having lasted longer than anyone expected. It had been at least three, long cruel years that seemed to last forever, unending death and destruction. Mithos and his two companions, Yuan and Kratos, finally found time in which to split the kingdoms apart, forming into two different worlds, and opposite of each other. Eventually, one world would suffer mana depletion and the other would prosper. But, it didn't matter now. It had been done, and it caused many tremors and suffering upon human life. Regardless, it would get better over time, with healing and life. Now that the worlds have severed, the young half-elf approached the seed of the Kharlan Tree, which was expected to be planted and thus, both worlds could have enough mana.

But no.

Mithos sadly pushed his sister's Exsphere into the Great Seed, her soul visually appearing, but unresponsive. He watched as her lifeless form remained in a deep slumber, almost peaceful in an eerie way.

"…Mithos? What are you doing? The seed needs to be planted." Yuan told the young half-elf.

"…"

"…Mithos." Yuan persisted. "Answer me."

"I can't plant the seed right now." The boy answered. His voice was full of hurt and anger. His sister's death and his nephew's disappearance still weighed heavily on his heart. He couldn't let them go, more importantly; he couldn't let his sister's death go. It plagued him the moment her body vaporized three years passed. It pained him every waking moment. It angered him every second he took breath. Not only this, it crushed the life out of Kratos, whom had not said a word after the war ended. He looked like he had died that very moment. His wife, dead, his son, gone, and it was three years he had to push his personal thoughts aside to pave the way for a new beginning.

Yuan glanced at the auburn haired swordsman. His friend was a waking zombie, a man whose soul had been stolen from him, his heart had been pierced by a spear, and his emotions, locked away. The blue-haired man hated seeing his friend this way, but there wasn't anything he could do. But… "Mithos, what do you mean?"

"I'm going to use it…to revive my sister."

"What?!" Yuan snapped, unbelieving.

"I'm going to revive my sister!" The boy repeated, eying the older half-elf. "She died trying to protect Lloyd! I'm going to revive her, and then, we'll revive Lloyd! We'll be together again, just the five of us!"

If anything could strike pain at Kratos, Mithos' words did. He actually _moved_; he turned his dead gaze upon his student. Revive his wife and child? And with the Great Seed's mana? Would that be possible? Even if it was, Kratos was sure the both of them wouldn't want that. But something in the back of his mind believed Lloyd was still alive, somewhere out there. Martel told him she sent him far away, so there was a chance, a possibility he was alive. "Mithos, that's…! You made a promise to Origin." Yuan dragged on, angering the boy even more.

"I know I did, but I can't lose my sister! She's my only family!"

"What about Kratos and I? _We're_ family!"

"Yes, but…not as close as my sister and I. You don't understand, Yuan! You just don't!"

"Yes I do! I _loved_ her, Mithos!"

"…What?"

"At a time, I did love Martel. But, she loved Kratos more, and I respected that. I'm as hurt as the both of you are. She was our friend, our companion, someone we loved in different ways. Don't tell me I don't understand, Mithos."

A brief pause and silence rode over them. The blond stared at the man with blue hair, eyes wide with disbelief. Kratos had narrowed his gaze upon Yuan as well, although he knew about his friend's crush ride with his wife before they were engaged and married. He hadn't purposely stolen Martel from Yuan; she and the man just simply got along very well and to the point where they confessed their feelings. Eventually, after time, they wanted to start a family. That was it; any young couple's dream was to have a family of their own. They had it for four years, and then everything went down hill. The Kharlan War destroyed his family, destroyed his life. It took his heart and ripped it apart. The absurdity of Mithos' claim to revive his sister sparked an interest in Kratos' unaccepted reality of what happened to his wife and child. He was in a state of denial and depression, and would want nothing more than to be in the embrace of his two loves again.

"So now I ask, why are you going to do this, Mithos Yggdrasil?" Yuan crossed his arms, his emerald eyes falling upon the half-elf child.

"I want my sister back! I'll do anything to have her back!" The boy shouted.

"Mithos, listen to yourself…It's irrational."

"I don't care!"

More silence.

"I…am going to side with Mithos on this." Kratos began, earning a gasp from Yuan and a startled expression from Mithos. Was this guy for real? Who was this guy and what had he done to Kratos? The real swordsman wouldn't have even dreamed of doing something so stupid and disrespectful of the dead. Yuan narrowed his eyes on Kratos before finally getting it, having studied the man a little more. He was in the stage of depression and denial. He was denying the fact his wife and son were gone, and depressed about their disappearance. In any event, he wasn't thinking clearly.

"Kratos, are you serious? You and Mithos are not thinking this clearly."

"We are reviving Martel." Mithos stated firmly. "Yuan, if you don't want to help us, then fine. But I won't stop until I have my sister back. She will need a new body."

"And how will you do that?"

"It's simple; we create one. I will create something better for my sister."

Yuan sighed. While he disliked the idea of bringing the dead back, he couldn't let his friends do this on their own. He would simply have to go through this, however long it would take. Deep down, he did want to see Martel alive again after her life had been taken prematurely. With her revival, she could easily locate Lloyd and they would find him. In the meantime, they would have to search individually. That brought something to the half-elf man's attention; yes! They could search for Lloyd now that the worlds have been severed! As Mithos and Kratos, along with Noise were leaving, Yuan stopped them.

"Wait. Before you two do anything you'll regret, let's try to look for Lloyd."

"…" Kratos dotted, but internally agreed. Perhaps they would find his son and then perhaps, they could find a way to bring Martel to life. It was simple and seemed easy.

-x-x-x-

The four had searched everywhere in every city, town and location on both worlds for the lost child. He was nowhere to be found, and even Mithos couldn't sense the presence of his sister's mana anywhere on the continents. If Lloyd had been encased in a solidified cocoon of his mother's mana, then it would have been easily detected! So, why was this becoming such a chore? This infuriated Mithos, internally angered and worried Kratos, and upset Yuan. One particular spot, however, Noishe led them to each time they searched for the toddler. It was in a large, forested area near the village of oracles, Iselia. The three tried looking around, each time, in case they missed a huge mana signature or something golden and visible. They even had Noishe dig around, but all they found was nothing. Nothing!

"Kratos, Noishe keeps leading us here every time but we still find and sense nothing." Yuan told the auburn, who growled lightly.

"I know, Yuan, but Noishe knows the boy's scent. He has to be around here somewhere!" Kratos nearly shouted.

Mithos shook his head. "We were here for his first birthday. Perhaps he found the boy's old scent…"

Yuan face-palmed. "That must be it. Noishe followed Lloyd's scent to here, where we had his first birthday. No wonder…"

The three sadly looked down, sighing. All except Kratos; he kept his eyes upon the ground, even as Mithos and Yuan began leaving. No. His son _had_ to be around here somewhere! There's no way Noishe could be wrong. Even if the boy's old scent was here, that didn't mean his new scent could be floating around. The protozoan was keen on finding the child from anywhere. No, there had to be somewhere else in this forest that they may have missed. A rock, a tree, anything! With every panicking thought that burned into his head, Kratos' heartbeat accelerated. "No…Lloyd is here. Somewhere. We…we have to keep looking…!"

"…It's over, Kratos." Mithos finally admitted. He was giving up on his nephew. "…If we revive my sister, she will help us revive Lloyd. We will bring him back, too. Then we can all be together."

"…"

"Come on Kratos. There's…more work for us to do now."

It took five minutes and all the energy he had for the auburn to truly respond and leave his spot. He cursed himself ever since that day; how could he just give up on his son after Martel told him to take care of him!? What kind of father was he? A horrible one, at that! But, the more he thought about it, the more he came to realize it. Lloyd was gone, and that would conclude to his eventual death. The child, should he have survived, would not make it out alive. Thoughts plagued the human angel's mind; wild, carnivorous animals tearing the boy up, eating at his flesh once they attacked, and mauling him. Kratos closed his eyes and tried to wipe those horrid thoughts away. How could he think of that? Was he getting weak? No, it was the father in him that was beginning to worry; a deep worry that could never be replaced, no matter what.

"…Lloyd, I'm sorry, please forgive your foolish father…"

-x-x-x-

**One Hundred Years Later**

-x-x-x-

Mithos was serious about the revival of his sister, that he formed a "colony" on Derris-Kharlan, where elves originally came from. He formed the Cruxis and the Cruxis Crystals, which were enhanced forms of the Exsphere. In a way, he, Yuan and Kratos had one long before these "new" ones were invented. It transformed them into angels, beings with wings made of mana that echoed the person's true heart. Mithos manipulated many people to serve as angels, going so far as to brainwash them. The crystals transformed them into beings with no emotions, which differed from Kratos and Yuan. Mithos then labeled them the Four Seraphim, including Martel, even if she was no longer alive physically. The deranged half-elf then forced the entire seal of Origin upon Kratos; this kept the pact of Origin shut tight and would allow him to use the Eternal Sword as much as he wanted. He had broken the pacts of the Summon Spirits; he moved the Great Seed onto Derris-Kharlan with him.

That was not apart of the vows he made.

The process of reviving Martel included the founding of the Church of Martel, which had been scattered about throughout both Sylvarant and Tethe'alla as well as Houses of Salvation. Now, the only thing left was to find a suitable body for his sister. In order to do this, Mithos had to find someone with a mana signature of or close to his sister's, which would be enough for the person's body to contain her soul within them. However, the body must be empty of the former's soul, to become a vessel. In which case, the person will have to die spiritually in order to have their body used for the purpose of reviving Martel. If it succeeded, Mithos would personally shape the body into something more suitable.

Of course, to perfect this plan, Mithos had himself, Yuan and Kratos twist the truth, the story of the war, what they did and strived for to reach this point. They made another legend based upon the truth. The story of the Chosen soon began to spread like wildfire across both worlds, and in this, Mithos would pinpoint the next child of mana, whose signature was closest to Martel's and they would be born with an Exsphere—or rather a Cruxis Crystal—in their hands. This would mark them as the Chosen, as each passage explains "a Chosen is born with an Exsphere". It was simple. In order for the person's body to be perfected into a vessel, they would have to undergo trials to strengthen the Cruxis Crystal in order to quicken the angel transformation. The body would lose their ability to eat, sleep, feel, talk, and then finally, have to give up their soul and memories, in order to be perfected, and in a twist, would "regenerate the world's mana" due to "Desians using up so much mana". The Tower of Salvation was built betwixt both worlds as the "final seal".

To create more Cruxis Crystals, Mithos needed to gather living beings and process them off their bodies. The most suitable candidates were humans. While Kratos was disturbed at first, he eventually stopped worrying about it. After all, it was for sacrifices like so that he wished to see his wife again. He would do anything to get her back; even this, and even submit to Mithos' wild exclaim to create an Age of Lifeless Beings.

Stories of many Chosens soon filled story books and fairy tales, however many failed time and time again. Either they were killed by monsters or Desians killed them. In the end, the Chosens weren't fully protected, and those Desians, which were nothing but half-elves, needed to learn that he wanted them to "give the Chosens a hard time" than to kill them. Eventually, it worked out in the end, and soon, human ranches were constructed to process Expsheres. It was the torturing of human beings gathered together in one facility, beating helpless humans down, making them work and overwork, and any means of torture. In a way, it was Mithos' way of vengeance for the discrimination he and his sister suffered, not just for the Exspheres. Human ranches only existed in the one world where they suffered extreme discrimination in when the world wasn't split; Sylvarant.

Ranches weren't in Tethe'alla, despite the kingdom-of-old's claim they lied. It didn't matter, however. They would get theirs some way or another.

Mithos then used his Cruxis Crystal to transform himself into an older version of his own self, to "appear more menacing and have authority" over his underlings. Regardless of being apart of the Four Seraphim, the half-elf even commanded Yuan and Kratos to escort Chosens from either side, when their time came, in order to give his sister the perfect body. Once, it had almost worked, but his sister's soul rejected the vessel. Enraged at the failure, Mithos killed the failure and demanded another be bred with arranged marriages of course. He had to find the perfect one, no matter what.

-x-x-x-

**Three Thousand Years Later**

-x-x-x-

Nothing was working.

Every Chosen up to this point have either failed to reach it to the Tower or Martel's soul would reject the body. It didn't make sense to Mithos; he carefully bred for each Chosen, keeping them all female of course. He chose which parent should marry due to the mana signatures they possessed and that the outcome of their children would possess the one he needed to suit his sister's soul. But they had gone all wrong; either the parents were killed by disease or some other misfortune would occur, such as the Chosen being killed when they were born and began their journey. It was infuriating; he had been doing this for so long, but it was becoming painfully exhausting. Not just for him, but for his two friends, who slaved themselves at the wit of his command to guard the Chosens on their journeys. Each time they went, they gained experience and practically knew the worlds like the back of their hands. Eventually, the journeys bored them, and Yuan began losing his faith.

Was all of this necessary?

No, it wasn't.

The blue-haired half-elf was getting tired of this constant, never ending vicious cycle. He could also see it in Kratos' eyes, but the man, who had looked like he had been dead for eons, didn't even budge. It was as if his emotions were hardened into the ice he created. There was no more laughter, joy or anything in his friend anymore. He would rarely get angry and if he did, it would most likely be a sensitive topic. The human angel appeared even more dead the more he went on these Chosen journeys. He sacrificed life after life to see his wife alive again. It was terrible enough he abandoned the search for Lloyd those many, many sorrowful years ago and even though the boy was half-angel, there was no chance he would be alive now. He would have likely died due to old age or from being killed by something out there.

Yuan scowled; there was nothing more he wanted to do with this plan any longer. He needed an outlet, some way to get out of Cruxis and thwart Mithos' plans. He knew exactly how he could do it, too.

Secretly, the blue-haired half-elf began searching for other half-elves that existed in both Tethe'alla and Sylvarant, explaining the situation of Cruxis to them, but however, explaining to them that they could combat against it; by stopping the Chosen's path when they started, it would frustrate Yggdrasil. Of course, this meant he had to work as a double agent, but nonetheless, he had to try. The group of half-elves worked together in secrecy, stopping the Chosens when they came around, usually by killing them. The small group didn't stop there. Even with the death of the original half-elves that began with Yuan, they were replaced by members of the growing, breeding family, their stories passed on from generation to generation to help their Lord Yuan in succeeding in his goals. Most of the time, they failed but then, the Chosen would either fail at the last seal or Martel's soul rejected them. Either way, if it stopped them from reviving Martel and stopping Mithos' absurd plans, it was good enough for him.

All he had to do was play the cards correctly and hope to never be found out…

-x-x-x-

**A Thousand Years Pass**

-x-x-x-

Sylvarant was in danger of its mana depletion. It was loosing its balance of mana it used to have with Tethe'alla; it was a battle of mana survival, and the other side was winning. Another Chosen had been bred specifically for this, but it was sixteen years too early and it had not been born just yet. In fact, two Chosens were being bred at the same time, rather than having one at a time like he used to have them. Yggdrasil was growing impatient now.

"Sister… This time, I will not fail you." Mithos, as Yggdrasil, began talking to the Great Seed, looking up at it. "I promise."

His time was interrupted by an angel drone, who floated in mindlessly. "Milord." Yggdrasil turned to face the near-emotionless angel, not really in the mood but answered it anyway. "What findings did you bring about the newest Chosens?"

"They are near complete matches, sir." The angel drone answered. "However…there is a matter at hand."

"And what might that be?"

"Sir, there is a reading in Sylvarant that there is another with a match of the mana signature of your desires." Yggdrasil rose his attention up to this information. There was another, not bred by his arranged marriages that carried a mana signature was very close to, no,_ exactly_ like his sister's? Who was this person? The only one who could possibly be a match to his sister's signature was dead—!

Wait.

He recalled the memory of his sister encasing the child in a solidified cocoon of her mana. She sent the child far away. He was deemed dead, but now, there could be a chance this might be him! This could be Lloyd! His nephew was alive?! Without revealing his excited emotions, he glanced at the angel. "Where is this presence residing in?"

"It is located in the forest near Iselia."

Yggdrasil growled. They had checked there several times and no sign of Lloyd's or Martel's mana had been found. Noishe even led them to that blasted forest many times over, but they believed that crazy protozoan just smelled out Lloyd's old scent. Now, it made sense. Noishe had been right all along. Lloyd had just been _hidden_ from them as a security measure by his mother's mana. It all made sense now, and with his deranged mind, he schemed up the perfect plan. With a twisted grin, he narrowed his green eyes upon the angel drone. "What damage will it do should I remove the Chosen of Sylvarant onto another being?"

"No damage will be done, as long as there is not a Cruxis Crystal present within the child's hands during growth within the womb." The angel replied.

"And last I checked, I hadn't given one to the Chosen of Sylvarant either. Heheh, perfect. This is absolutely perfect. Abandon the Chosen of Sylvarant and reschedule a new one."

"Sir, it will be done. What should the name of the new Chosen be?"

Grinning to himself, but knew it had to be done, he said, "Lloyd Aurion." He watched the angel nod and began making notes. "Do not let Kratos or Yuan see this. They must never know." _And I'll make sure they don't know._

"Yes my lord."

"Good, now go."

The angel left and was soon replaced by the audience of a half-elf with white-silver hair, black eyes with red pupils. He bowed as he entered the chambers of his master. Yggdrasil raised an eyebrow at the half-elf, but figured he was here to report something of his human ranch. "Kvar, what brings you here?" The tall blond said, almost with a scowl.

"My lord, I bring wonderful news. The experiment of the Angelus Project from subject A012 was completed. I have come to present it to you, as a gift, my lord, to you." Kvar, as he was called, said with a grin plastered to his face. He presented the small, blue gem—which was an Exsphere—to Yggdrasil. "It is everything of a Cruxis Crystal at its base power, for now. It will grow to become a Cruxis Crystal but even _better_ than the ones you use, my lord. You will be very pleased at how fast anyone becomes an angel with this—"

"This can enhance the angel transformation faster?" Yggdrasil interrupted, however Kvar nodded.

"Indeed my lord."

"Good. I have use for it."

Kvar smiled. "I have made it for you, Lord Yggdrasil."

"I'm glad you did, Kvar. I will give it to someone else who will be worthwhile to have it."

This shocked the half-elf man. Why would his lord give it to someone else when he spent many years on perfecting the ultimate Cruxis Crystal for him? That didn't make any sense! Kvar held in his scowl and anger, wanting to press this matter as much as he could. "S-sir, how-however do you mean?"

"I will be giving it to my long lost nephew."

"P-Pardon?!"

The blond-haired seraph glared in Kvar's way, making the man shudder. "I said I'm giving it to my nephew!" He snapped, then lightly calmed down. "He is a half-angel, and I have plans for him." Yggdrasil twisted the blue gem in his hands, observant and grinning to himself. It was a foul plan, something he would have never agreed on, but when it came to his sister's revival, he'd do anything. Even use his nephew as a tool. He would force his nephew to become the very vessel of his mother, the one who he sought out for so long in his separation, most likely. He would also use Kratos in this journey; it would be unlikely that Lloyd would recognize his father…if he grew up and out of his coma, of course. Yes, Kratos, his son would be the new Chosen. After a dangerous chuckle from Yggdrasil, he summoned an angel drone flew in, responding.

"Yes, Lord Yggdrasil?"

"Deliver this to the mana signature of Martel in the Iselia Forest." He gave the angel the Angelus Project. "I have need of another Chosen, and that one is sleep. He shall wake up soon enough."

"Yes milord."

When the angel and the Exsphere was gone, Yggdrasil turned to Kvar, who looked very angry. He had no more use for the half-elf, well, except to make him more expsheres and to punish those filthy humans. "Kvar, you are dismissed." The blond told him, turning around. The white-blond half-elf growled lowly under his breath but kept his mouth silent and exited the chambers. When he was far away enough, he narrowed his eyes. "IseliaForest, hm? I can't let a brat have MY precious Exsphere I worked so hard on. I suppose I'll be…on vacation through the woods…Heheh…"

-x-x-x-

Sylvarant was blanketed into the darkness of night, with a full moon peaking around many clouds. Aforementioned clouds were dark and a chilling breeze passed over. It was evident a storm would be coming. In the thicket of the Iselian forest, a crack of glass could be heard, echoing. Something had dropped upon it and now, the glass was breaking apart. After three minutes of chipping away noises, the enter thing shattered. After that, a soft, low, whimpering cry echoed throughout the dark woods. More shuffles here and there, and walking out of what seemed to be a ditch, was a little boy. He had light brown hair, which darkened at some points and had a tint of red in it as well. His eyes were a mix of pale gold and brown, also having a red tint to them. He was dressed in a white, long-sleeve shirt, however, it had aged blood upon it that would most likely never wash out. He had one dark blue shorts, his bare legs visible, and he only had one shoe on. His socks were tattered but nonetheless, still intact. He was the whimpering case that made the forest eerie and echoes his every shudder. The cold wind blew every tree, making the leaves rustle loudly, further giving the child the more reason to be scared for his life.

"…M…Mommy?" He cried out, looking around. "Daddy?" He couldn't remember a thing, except voices. He only heard voices of the ones he thought he remembered. Their faces that went with them were all blurry, foggy and clouded. But he remembered someone singing to him and it was nice. It was in a language he thought he knew but at the same time, didn't know. He also didn't know why he was holding onto a blue stone, either, but it felt very reassuring. He looked around, wondering. "Wh…Where am I? My head hurts…"

"Hey! You kid! What are you doing here!?" Someone shouted. The boy gasped, remaining frozen in his spot. The person that shouted at him was a man in red, wearing armor and held a whip. He scowled as he got closer to the child, narrowing his eyes through his helmet. "Kid! Don't you know you're in violation of the non-aggression treaty we have with Iselia?!"

"Wh-what?" The boy wondered, scared. "I… I… I j-just…I—"

"Hmph! Who cares!? You stupid human child! You'll learn your place!" The Desian growled, cracking his whip. "You'll just be in the ranch like the rest of them!"

"R-ranch? What is that?"

"Don't play dumb with me kid!" The Desian raged, cracking his whip at the boy. The brunet fell to his knees, wailing loudly.

"Waaaah! Aaaaah! Mommy! Mommy help me!"

"Your mom can't save your ass now, brat!" The child was grabbed by his shirt forcefully. He tried to scramble free, but couldn't do anything, but cry. His crying was so loud, it made the Desian growl even lower. "Shut up, kid! Or I'll have to whip some sense into you! It's your own damn fault for interfering! Now I have to report to Lord Forcystus!"

"Waaaaaah! I want my mommy and daddy!"

"Shut UP!"

This only fueled the child's rampant crying. Having heard enough, the Desian tossed the boy to the ground, making him cry even more. Ugh! What a crybaby! "That's it! I'm gonna—"

"You're going to do **what**?" A snarling, deep voice said, stopping the Desian. He spun around, looking up to a man with short, aquamarine hair, green eyes, an eye-patch over his left eye and having a cannon of sorts over his left arm. The Desian stood at attention, saluting the man before him.

"L-Lord Forcystus. I…I was about to silence this child and then throw him into the ranch—"

"Have you no sense? You cannot simply spare a half-elf child?" The man named Forcystus scowled. The Desian's eyes widened under his helmet as he turned back to the wailing child. This boy was a half-elf? But his ears were round and he looked like a human! Noticing the Desian's expression, the aquamarine-haired half-elf began, "It may be diluted but he is of half-elf descent. Leave him as he is."

"But sir…"

"Now!" The man snapped.

Obeying quickly, the Desian was gone, having gone through the ranch's opened gate. When he was out of sight, Forcystus walked up to the crying child, kneeling next to him to have a closer look. Indeed, this child had elven blood in him, but it was hidden so well, he nearly thought he was just a human. Another human he would rather see suffer in his ranch. It was obvious to the man that the boy had been abandoned by his parents, either because they didn't want him or they had been killed. Sighing, Forcystus nudged the child, making him stop wailing for a few seconds, calming to sniffles. The boy seemingly recognized something kindred in the man before him; he had…he couldn't put his finger on it, but it was definitely something he thought he remembered feeling. Power?

"Are you lost, kid?" Forcystus asked in a quiet tone. The boy nodded his head, about to submit to tears again when the half-elf held up his hand. "Uh. Not another peep of tears." The child resorted to sniffling however, which Forcystus knew he could handle for the time being.

"Listen, you can't come with me, but you need to be with the village. You're a human after all."

"H-huh?"

"I'm sparing you, kid. And it looks like I have to." The man saw the shining, blue gem in the boy's hand. He knew what that meant and he knew what that meant for the village across the forest. _Another Chosen…This kid's parents abandoned him possibly for that. I can't blame them, but damn!_ The elder half-elf sighed, rising to his feet. He couldn't leave this boy here; he would rather be killed than abandoning a fellow half-elf to meet his demise. The boy was about to cry again but was stopped by Forcystus' hand again. "Get up, kid. You're going to a new home now."

"Huh? W-why? I…I want my mommy and dadd—"

"They're not coming back for you, kid. And, you have something important to do for the world when you get older."

"…I…do?"

"That's right. Now come on before I leave you here." Forcystus began leaving, however, not before summoning another Desian. This new man in red reported quickly, letting the half-elf man remove the cannon from his arm, and removed the eye patch from over his left eye. After telling the Desian to put those into his chambers, he motioned for the child to follow him, who eagerly did so. After all, this man saved his life and was being nice to him, somewhat. The boy near him carefully held the blue stone in his hands, afraid it would break if he clumsily dropped it.

"…Um… Th-thank you for…helping me, mister." The boy said finally after what appeared to be five minutes of silence and sniffling.

"Don't worry about it, kid."

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

"Why?"

"…Kid…Cut it out." Forcystus scowled lightly, but hid it well under his breath. The boy silenced, looking down again. After a moment, and nearing the forest's exit, the man asked, "What's your name, boy?" The brunet sorrowfully looked ahead, frowning. What was his name again? He had forgotten or maybe he never had one. Think, think! What was his name? He closed his eyes tightly, trying to remember, but it was all foggy and clouded. But, something was there, and he barely grasped it with straws.

"…Lloyd." He mumbled sadly.

"Hm, I see."

They continued to walk on through the night, eventually coming upon the village of oracles. Somewhere, deep down, Lloyd felt he knew this place. But, from where? Before he could question himself, Forcystus shouted into the sleeping village, "Come out you worthless human scum! I am the Grand Cardinal Lord Forcystus!" This attracted the startling attention from many awake men in their houses. One in particular was a young man in his early twenties with blond hair, together with his wife. When the villagers, sans the children were situated towards the front gate of the village, they all gasped. There was a Desian! "A…A Desian!" A woman cried.

"Shut up." Forcystus growled, silencing them all. Lloyd trembled in fear, and saw the people. They were just as scared as he was! "You people have forged a treaty with me, in the place that I do not harm your stupid village of you human roaches. However, a human boy here," He pushed Lloyd forward, "had been found near my ranch." The villagers gasped, all in fear and worry. They didn't know this child, so why were they being blamed for this? They had done their part! They left the human ranch alone!

"Th…this boy doesn't even belong here!" a man with black hair, the mayor, snapped. "H…He's an outsider! He's not one of us! Believe us, we've kept our word."

"Hush!" The Grand Cardinal snapped as well, forcing the man into silence. "I will overlook this matter if this boy stays here. I believe…he will be of merit to you all." With that, he shoved the toddler towards them. In this, Lloyd's blue gem fell out of his hands, rolling a few inches away from him. The boy gasped, hurrying towards it and picked it up. This made the villagers stunned in shock; this outsider boy with an Expshere in his hands. Could it be…?

"…Is…Is he the next Chosen?" The mayor wondered. They all believed the Chosen would be born in their village, but here he was, this child that didn't belong anywhere. What were they to do?

"If you value your pathetic lives, you will keep this boy." Forcystus warned, narrowing his eyes. "If any mistreatment is found towards him, I'll personally burn this village down to ashes!" With this, the half-elf Grand Cardinal left the village's gate, leaving Lloyd there all to himself with a bunch of strangers. His brownish eyes met with each one of theirs, getting scared. He wanted to curl up and cry, but was approached by the man with blond hair. Lloyd looked up to him as he knelt down.

"Now…then…Let's get you inside somewhere safe." The man said, smiling. "What's your name, hm?"

"L…Lloyd." The boy repeated.

"Okay then, Lloyd, I'm Frank." The blond said, nervously wondering if the half-elf man would come back. He seemed very defensive of this human child. Was it because he was the Chosen? Well in any case, his sparring of the child brought them joy. "Let's get you cleaned up, Lloyd. You can sleep at our house." With this, Frank and his heavily pregnant wife left to their house, leaving the mayor and the other villagers confused. Soon, the others dispersed into their own houses, being afraid of the half-elf's threat. The mayor trailed lightly to his house, grumbling.

At the distance, however, Kvar saw everything. Forcystus got to the child before he did. _Damn that Forcystus! …But I suppose I'll have to do as Lord Yggdrasil wishes…for now. _The white-haired half-elf left the area with a teleporting warp of mana, leaving the Iselians alone. He would get his Angelus Project back, even if it meant defying his master and killing that boy later on.

* * *

Galdr: Toldja I wouldn't let Lloyd die! XD He was just in a coma for several thousands of years. Man, I'm so tired. Spent from 1am to 5am typing over 6,000 words. Ah well, it was worth it. And I'm sure I misspelled Forcystus' name, too.

Review replies for Chapter three!

**Marina Ka-Fai:** Yes, poor everyone. D: I actually cried a little when I was typing that. It may have been the sad music influencing the emotion, though. Anyway, thanks for the review/comment.

**TosLover5 (Guest):** Thank-you for the review! I'm sorry the ending was sad for you but fear not, this chapter has Lloyd in it. XD He's not gone.

**Kenta Diamond:** Ah, thank-you for the compliment and your review. :D I'm sorry I made your relive Martel's death. It got me sad too, but it had to be done. ):

Thank-you all for the story faves and adds! It really helps fuel my drive to keep flushing out chapters from nowhere! Review if you like!


	5. The Oracle and the Mercenary

[What-if] What if Martel was Lloyd's mother? What if he was born a few years before the Kharlan War? What if Lloyd unintentionally became the next Chosen? Tales of Symphonia "what-if", partially follows the game/manga/OVA. [AU]

Now, here is chapter five, which is obviously going to be following the game, manga and bits of the OVA, because I love the OVA. I will make a story short of Lloyd's life in Iselia though, because I made another giant time skip to get the story going and all. I didn't want to bore you all to death with my long drawn out…words. This chapter might be a little shorter than the others so far. Sorry about that. Also, small note, Lloyd's going to be sixteen than seventeen, but he'll most likely age later in the story. Responses to reviews are at the bottom as before.

I don't own Tales of Symphonia. I almost typed "Tales of Sylvarant" again. –face palms– Enjoy.

* * *

-x-x-x-

The Goddess's Son of Mana

**Chapter 5: The Oracle and the Mercenary**

-x-x-x-

Carefully, he waited for this day to come. The day of prophecy, in which he would send an angel to convey the twisted message of Cruxis to the Chosen of Sylvarant. Yggdrasil grinned; it was merely twelve years ago that he discovered his long lost nephew's presence and unknowingly to the young angel boy, forced him to become the Chosen through his twisted means. When he ran the boy's mana through many of his sources, it had been a perfect match to his sister's signature. Of course it was; he was her son after all. He would use his nephew's body to revive his sister's life. It was cruel, despicable, and if Kratos found out, the seraph would most likely try to cast Judgment upon him and Cruxis. The tall blond kept to his self-promise; he had not revealed the identity of the new Chosen to either Kratos or Yuan over the course of the twelve years.

During that time, he personally went to check up on the brunet every year he turned a new age. It was spying of course, but he watched him befriend a young girl with blonde hair, who was _going_ to be the Chosen, and a young half-elf boy with whitish-silver hair. The three was close as friends could get, but the blond and his nephew were even closer. That would factor in a problem when the brunet would eventually leave on his journey, but then again, it would most likely strengthen him to keep going. However, one thing was for certain. Kratos would nearly recognize Lloyd due to his already angelic given mana, and the fact the boy already had angel wings before the Cruxis Crystal. That was another problem; he would figure out that this Lloyd was his son and then come after him with demanding questions.

"I'll simply say the boy is a reincarnation of Lloyd… It may be hard to say, but I can't let Kratos get attached to him. He is necessary. He is a tool, and I will use him until I cannot anymore." Yggdrasil told himself, as he turned away from the Great Seed that harbored his sister's soul. He looked up at her sadly, the day she was stabbed replaying back in his mind like someone hit a rewind button. He kept his emotions hidden for now; his audience with Kratos was within the seconds.

"Kratos." The blond haired half-elf began as the dead-looking seraph looked at him in response. "As you know, sixteen years ago—" he lied, which in fact it was _twelve_ years ago, "—I have made arrangements for a new Chosen on Sylvarant. The day in which the oracle will be received is today, and I want you to protect the Chosen."

"…Isn't it Yuan's turn to?"

"No. And I want you to do it. I find you'd be more qualified than Yuan. Besides, that man is busy with another task I gave him." Yggdrasil said.

"Very well then."

"Yes. The name of the new Chosen is…" The blond paused, "Lloyd Brunel."

The mentioning of the name snapped whatever death in Kratos alive. The name; it was so familiar and yet so foreign at the same time. As soon as he thought there was a chance his son was alive, it was instantly drowned out by factoring in how many centuries it had been since the child had been lost. There was absolutely no way he could be alive. Yggdrasil studied his master's expression when he gave the name of the new Chosen, having suspected this would happen. The auburn attempted to make a connection and comparison with his Lloyd, the young angel with this "new" one. After the light observation, Yggdrasil continued. "I understand…he shares the name of your son, my nephew, but I've found no sort of connection with him and our Lloyd." Kratos' expression fell deeper. "However, it appears he is a reincarnation of our Lloyd. He almost looks like an exact replica." Now, there was his lie again. "It's as if Martel is blessing us with another chance."

Like hell she is, Kratos wanted to say, but didn't.

"I don't want you getting attached to this boy, Kratos. He is _not_ your son. He may be a reincarnation, but he isn't our same little Lloyd. Don't forget and don't allow your emotions to best you."

Even if he was not his son, he would never let the boy reincarnate be harmed. It would be too much a pain, to remind him of his failures. "Kratos, you will act as a mercenary and lead the Chosen to each seal to awaken the mana within them. Don't fail me."

The man simply nodded, "…As you wish." He left the room in a slow pace, never looking back at Yggdrasil. This was going to be a long day from here on out. If the boy, the new Chosen, was anything like his son, he would have a difficult time remaining emotionless and distant.

-x-x-x-

**Twelve Years Ago**

-x-x-x-

It was strange to the Brunels, whom had adopted the young boy, Lloyd into their home that night. It was even stranger to the villagers who knew of his existence. Three years had passed, but the child remained three foot tall, under thirty pounds of weight and appeared young. It was as if he was ageless; they had asked how old he was and he repeated many times he was four. The day he was brought into the village was the day they celebrated his birthday, but the boy continued to speak his age as being four. It was rather odd. During the three years of such oddity, Frank's wife had given birth to their daughter, Colette, and was raised alongside their adopted son, Lloyd. When the girl was three, her mother had been killed by a Desian, leaving her motherless; despite never knowing this, she was raised by her father and grandmother. At age three, she finally befriended her adopted brother, making him talk more often. Lloyd had been the silent one ever since that night.

Not only that, he had been escorted to the MartelTemple southeast of Iselia every day for five hours at the most. The priests were instructing the child to become Chosen-like in attitude; even giving him ten rules he must follow in order to become selfless and appreciative. It wasn't hard for the boy to accept them, but the lessons were boring and growing tedious. All the while, as he grew, he began experiencing strange pains and oddities. First, he felt nothing but noticed food became tasteless and bitter, no matter what flavor it was mixed in. Secondly, after a few days, he had a hard time sleeping and noticed he couldn't sleep any longer.

Regardless, the boy struggled to go to sleep every night. Thirdly, he noticed his sense of touch had faded off or something because he couldn't even feel how hot the hot chocolate cups were or how cold the winters of Iselia were when they came. Fourthly, his emotions seemed to have closed up. He could smile and laugh lightly, get upset at the base of anger, and get borderline sad when sympathizing with a tragedy, but other than that, he could not express his emotions any further. Internally, Lloyd was becoming scared though didn't bother telling anyone of these "symptoms", afraid they wouldn't be able to help him.

Lastly, out of all of them, he suddenly lost his voice and sharp pain surged through his body, mostly from his back. Something was trying to extend itself from his back. The pain subsided within a few minutes, now shifting into a pleasant, tickling sensation. Lloyd quizzically wondered what was going on, but believed he felt this tickling feeling before. Now, where in the world would he have known this? "Where…?" He wondered, closing his eyes, trying to think. His memory easily remembered the night he met Forcystus, known as the half-elf grand cardinal of the Iselia human ranch that the village had forged a treaty with to protect him from Desians. He remembered everything the past three years prior, how Frank Brunel took him in. However, before those memories, the one he was trying to reach, were clouded.

Darkness surrounded him, he could tell. He had been crying for someone—his mother, his father. He cried for someone to get him out of something that he was trapped in. He remembered laughter and a woman's voice, singing to him in a language he now recognized. It was the angelic language; he was being taught how to read and write it, and the boy learned exceptionally fast compared to previous Chosens. These voices, he couldn't put faces to them, and it left him at a cliffhanger or despair. Why was it so hard to remember anything before meeting the Iselians? "…Maybe…that woman's voice is my mommy." Lloyd deduced, having no other reason or idea who else it could be. The voice _sounded_ motherly, so therefore it _had_ to be. As soon as Lloyd returned to reality, he noticed the area he had been sitting in to suffer the symptoms alone had lit up in a bluish green hue of light. Perplexed, he looked around, only to notice that _he_ was making that glow!

Behind him were two, dove like wings, diamond-patterned and longer than the length of his own arms. In fact, they looked like they doubled in length of his arms. They were downed in a gradient shade of blue to green, then white at the bottom of the transparent feathers. If it had been anyone else, they would have freaked out and caused a scene at noticing the wings behind them, but Lloyd, he didn't feel afraid. In fact, he had a feeling he knew these wings existed, but never knew why they did. As if memory lane decided to bring itself upon the boy, Lloyd suddenly remembered how to put them away. He closed his eyes and thought about putting them away, to make them hide. When they were withdrawn and faded off in a flash of bluish-white light, the boy frowned. "Something in my mind is trying to…come out. …Why did I know what to do? I'm so weird."

After his growing friendship with Colette, Lloyd's body mysteriously began growing like a normal child's. This baffled the Brunels, they didn't know why that was. They eventually concluded that because Lloyd was the Chosen, he would grow slower than most kids. As the Chosen aged to six and Colette turned five, a young elf woman who went by the name Raine Sage came, pleading for help with her infant brother and a place to live. The mayor willingly agreed to have the elf siblings in their village, welcoming them much differently than when they were pressured to take in Lloyd. Said brunet minded not the situation, but had a strange feeling about the elven Sages. Something he found kinship in, like when he met Forcystus years ago. Five years later, the younger brother of Raine, Genis Sage, became good, close friends with Colette and Lloyd.

The three children grew up together since then, always hanging out and away from the other kids in the village. Raine eventually replaced Colette's grandmother, Phaidra, as the teacher of the Iselian schoolhouse. On their spare time, if any, the children would use their toys to practice some form of weapon, or pretend using weapons. Genis, having bought a new kendama for his seventh birthday, Colette with some dog Frisbees and Lloyd picked up two sticks, smiling. He apparently thought having two sticks would make him twice as strong, applying this from what he learned in school. Of course, logic doesn't work that way, but the boy truly believed in that. When he grew older, he would have the nice dwarf outside the IseliaForest, Dirk, make him some.

Even though the people were being nice to him, Lloyd knew he had to hide his weird symptoms. He would have to pretend eating, sleeping, and expressing emotions whenever they came. Most importantly, he would have to hide those wings. They weren't normal, after all.

-x-x-x-

Today was the day of prophecy, also known as Lloyd's sixteenth birthday. His two best friends, Colette, now fifteen, and Genis, who was now eleven, were inside the schoolhouse, being instructed on the lesson of the Journey of Regeneration, the Great Kharlan War, and the Desians. Majority of the class groaned at Raine's lesson plan; it was always taught on Lloyd's birthdays, or at least a few days before his birthdays. However, today, an oracle of Cruxis, which the village had been patiently waiting for, would arrive sometime today. The brunet would become the Chosen of Regeneration, and begin his journey to restoring mana upon Sylvarant. As exciting as that sounded to many people, Lloyd wasn't as excited about it. On his eighth birthday, the priests of the Martel Temple revealed to him the truth about the journey and what would become of him.

He would have to travel Sylvarant and release the four seals that would guard the entrance of the Tower of Salvation.

Each seal would take away something of his abilities, so he could be purified of his earthly attachments and human qualities.

Then, at the final seal, he would sacrifice himself to die for the goddess Martel, be reborn as an angel and restore mana unto the world.

The child didn't mind everything that was told to him except the fact his body would be sacrificed to save the world from mana depletion. He would have to die for the goddess Martel. Not only that, but the name "Martel" made the boy shudder or he would ball into tears, regardless of what mood he would be in. The name struck him on a hard nerve. He soon figured out, connecting the dots, that the symptoms he experienced years ago—which somewhat died off as he could somewhat express emotion, he had his voice back obviously and could taste—were the cause of becoming an angel. Lloyd realized he became an angel before going on the trials! Adding to this cause of mood swings and realization, Lloyd would sometimes hear a strange woman's voice calling to him, either at night when he was sleeping or during random times of the day. He couldn't ever figure out who was talking to him, and most of the time, during class, it would heavily distract him.

Like it was today.

"Lloyd Brunel! Snap out of it!" shouted Raine from her desk. When they boy had made no move to acknowledge her, the silver-haired elf picked up the nearest eraser and chucked it at the day-dreaming teen. Instead of the board eraser smacking into his forehead like it normally would, the brunet raised his hand subconsciously and caught it. Everyone in the class, including the boy's friends watched in baffled amazement, staring as he closed his hand with the eraser and unintentionally crushed it. The class was stunned, more or less.

"Lloyd Brunel…!"

"…huh?" The teen answered finally, snapping to reality. When he saw the fuming rage of Raine's face, he realized what exactly was going on. Uh-oh.

"You were day-dreaming again when I asked you a question."

"…I'm sorry, Raine. It won't happen again." The young Chosen apologized, standing up from his seat and bowing politely. "I was distracted by—"

"Yes, I'm aware you're anxious for the oracle to come, but please, try and pay attention." The elf woman said. "Sit down, Lloyd."

"Yes ma'am." The boy obeyed, sitting back in his chair. He noticed his classmates were staring at him as if he had grown three heads; he had been oblivious to when he crushed the eraser a few minutes ago, not realizing he performed something inhuman-like. Regardless, Raine snapped the class back to attention with the drop of her heavy books upon the front desk. The teacher began again, "Now then, let's continue. Genis, would you please answer the question?" The silver-haired boy nodded as he stood up from his seat, a book in his hands however he wasn't looking at it.

"Mithos, the hero, brought about the end of the Ancient War in the Holy Ground of Kharlan. Afterwards, Mithos formed a pact with the Goddess Martel to seal away the Desians whom caused the war."

"Correct." Raine said with a smile.

"But, they're coming back and making everybody to suffer…" A boy in the class said sadly.

"Yes, that's true, but we covered that in yesterday's class." Raine told the kid, who had reddish-orange hair. "Remember? When the Seal weakens, the Desians reappear, just like they have now."

"Y-yeah…" the boy mumbled as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Today is the Day of Prophecy," Raine continued to instruct the class. "It is a very important day, which the Chosen of Mana will receive an oracle from the Goddess Martel." She turned her attention to Lloyd, who looked upon her expectantly. He had a feeling he was going to be picked to answer the next question. "Lloyd, would you like to answer this next question?"

"Ah, sure." The boy said with a nod.

"Tell us about the journey of world regeneration."

Lloyd paled but had hid it well; so well, his best friends couldn't tell he was hiding it. He stood up from his seat again. "It's a journey to seal the Desians," he began, almost angrily, not at himself but because it wasn't half of the truth. That he would have to die in order for the world to survive. The very thought continued to plague him, however, the teen kept it to himself as he talked on. "Upon passing the trials of the Goddess Martel, the Summon Spirits that protect the world will awaken, and then mana is restored."

"That is correct," Raine said as she smiled at Lloyd. Oh, if they all knew the true meaning behind this. "I suppose we should expect the Chosen himself to know the answer to that one." She nodded for the teen to sit back down, and he do so politely. "Mana depletion is the cause of the current food shortages and droughts. It is said that this occurs because the Desians consume vast amounts of mana in their human ranches. The journey has two purposes; one, is to revive mana to the world, and secondly, to defeat the Desians." Everyone was taking notes as she continued. "Now, onto the next question…"

As if a divine prank was pulled, a flash of light erupted from absolutely nowhere, blinding the people inside the building as well as outside.

"Th-that flash of light!" one woman outside started.

"It…It's the oracle!" another continued.

"Oh!" more villagers chanted, relief entering their hearts. Now their Chosen, whom they've raised, could finally begin his journey!

Inside the schoolhouse, when they light died down, but a large pillar of it could still be seen, the entire class left their chairs to look outside the nearby windows, ecstatic. They lived to see the oracle beaming down, and were amazed by its shine. Lloyd, however, didn't even budge at the sight of the light. Today was the day, now was the hour, and he felt his heart crunch up. This would be his last time to live as a person, as normal of a life he could possibly ever live. He would have to leave his friends here as he went on this journey to unlock seals and go under trials. His eyes looked over the forms of the excited Colette and Genis, who were chatting with the other students. Yes, he'd have to leave them behind. They could never know what would happen to him at the end of the journey. He couldn't allow them to get hurt. They would be safe staying here in Iselia where no harm can befall them.

However, outside the village, a group of men dressed in blue and armor were approaching. One in particular had a V-shaped mop of dark brown hair was in the lead, eyes narrowing. "It's time. Let's get this over with, men."

"Yes sir." The other saluted and hurried to the village, armed with blades. As they left, the man in charge rubbed his small goatee, sighing. This wasn't something he enjoyed but it had to be done. His boss ordered for this attack in order to protect the young life from doing something so foolish, even if it meant taking their life. It was the only way to prevent the vicious cycle from repeating itself.

"Forgive me, young one. But this has to stop."

-x-x-x-

"Now everyone, settle down." Raine tried to assure the class. "It would seem that the time for the oracle has come. I will go and check on the chapel." The students turned from the window, having a mixture of expressions. "Everyone, stay here and study on your own. Understood?" Some students groaned but decided to listen to their teacher anyway. They shuffled to their desks as Raine got up from her own, proceeding to leave the classroom. However, before she could fully exit, Lloyd stood up from his desk.

"Wait, Professor Raine. I should go with you." The teen said, beginning to make his way over.

Raine shook her head, objecting. "No Lloyd, if it's really the oracle, the priests will come for you. Wait here with everyone else."

"…Yes ma'am…" Lloyd sighed in defeat, disappointed. He knew that was the oracle because the priests told him how it would appear. When she was gone, and left the schoolhouse—Lloyd noticed as his enhanced hearing capabilities allowed him to hear them—he headed for the exit of the class. However, his friend Genis walked up to him, frowning.

"Uh, Lloyd. My sister just said that we should wait here and study on our own."

"I know, but…it that's the oracle, then I have to go and receive it. I can't just stay here and wait for the priests to come for me."

"Yeah but… I rather you not get in trouble because of not listening to my sister."

"I understand your concern, Genis. But this is something I have to do…I am the Chosen…" His pale gold-brown eyes found themselves upon his adopted sister, smiling a little. "Colette, would you like to come with me?" Aforementioned girl blinked as she sat up from her desk, also smiling.

"Um, sure, Lloyd." She chirped.

"I…really think you shouldn't." Genis began protesting.

"I think it'll be fun to see Lloyd getting the oracle, wouldn't you, Genis?" The blonde asked, still smiling. "I know you're curious about it…I sure am!"

"Y-yeah I am, but what about my sister?"

"I'll take the blame for you two coming with me. How does that sound?" Lloyd said. "Come on…"

The trio left the classroom, down the hall and exited the schoolhouse. However, as soon as they did, the entire village seemed different. Everyone disappeared! Colette gasped, Genis stared and Lloyd paled; what had happened? Before the brunet could ask, Genis beat him to it. "W-where is everyone? Where'd they go?" Those were Lloyd's exact questions he was going to ask rhetorically. As if on cue, an injured man walked up slowly towards them, bleeding from head to toe. It was a priest, no doubt.

"Ch-Chosen One!" the man croaked loudly as he could, Lloyd took notice first, followed by Colette and Genis. It was the pastor! He couldn't make it towards Lloyd, falling down towards the ground.

"What happened?!" Lloyd questioned worriedly as he caught the wounded man in a hurry.

"Are you all right?!" Genis was next to ask. Obviously, from the wounds, this man would most likely die from them…

"De…Desians attacked the t-temple…" the pastor began, coughing blood up as he spoke.

"Wait, Iselia has a non-aggression treaty with the Desians…" the elven boy said, now confused.

"You mean that agreement the mayor made as long as we leave the human ranch alone?" Colette blinked, looking at the pastor, then to her friends, tilting her head.

Lloyd nodded. "Yeah. It was made to protect me…" He said sorrowfully. "Even your grandmother told me that, Colette."

"O-oh."

They stopped chatting when the priest began coughing up more blood, making the teens panic even more and worry further. "I…I don't… know why…" the pastor said weakly, "but they have broken the treaty… Chosen One…hurry…" He looked to Lloyd with his last, hopeful gaze. "Please…Receive the oracle…" Lloyd nodded, his eyes never leaving the dying man's own.

"I promise I will."

"Please…be careful…" He choked again, his eyes growing heavy. "I… I regret that I…could not protect…the Chosen…" He muttered out his last, his breath drawing out slower. The three watched painfully as the man lied there, still and silent as a rock, unmoving. He was dead. Colette began crying, Genis frowned and looked away and Lloyd put on a determined face. Already, people were dying because of him. He was going to be a burden more than a savior if he didn't receive the oracle and head out to his journey. He lied the dead man's body down upon the ground's surface, standing up, having said a small prayer to the dead man's body. There was work to be done.

"Already…" He mumbled to himself, clenching his fists. "I'm going…" Lloyd told them, heading towards the path that led to the temple.

"Colette, we can't let him go by himself. Desians are inside there!" Genis protested.

"I know." The girl began. "We have to go with him. Do you remember what Lloyd says about the Dwarven Vows Dirk taught to all of us?"

"Yeah. Dwarven Vow #1: 'Let's all work together for a peaceful world.'"

The two nod before rushing after Lloyd, catching up with him before he got too far. However, it wasn't long until a man with short, blond hair, now a middle-aged man, rushed towards them, panicking and tired. This was Frank, Colette's birth father and Lloyd's adopted one. The three teens stopped when he caught up to them, surprised. "F-father!" Colette called to him.

"Colette, Lloyd, Genis!" The man breathed out, panting. "You're all okay, I'm glad."

"Mr. Frank, what happened? Why's the village so deserted? Was it the Desians? Is it true they attacked the temple?"

"Yes." Frank replied, catching his breath. "Thankfully, no one was hurt here in the village. They also had passed through here and everyone got scared and went into their houses. They headed towards the temple." The three friends exchanged worried glances, finally knowing the pastor was right. The Desians _had_ broken the treaty after all! What were they up to, anyway? "I… I fear for the worst now…"

"Father, where is grandmother?"

"Mother is at the temple, and that's why I fear for the worst. She went earlier to prepare the ritual."

Genis turned to his friends, angered. "We have to go there! They could be attacking the temple as we speak!"

"But, she is with the other priests." Colette said, still frowning but still hopeful. "They…They'll protect her. She's not alone."

"Still…" Genis mumbled.

Frank turned to Lloyd, who had been quiet most of the time, observing the conversation that had passed. "Lloyd…"

"I know. I have to receive the oracle, but…" The boy paused, nodding his head behind him. "The…pastor… He came here to warn us of the Desians. He died…"

"I…see. I'm so sorry, Lloyd. The priests had been a family to you as we were…"

"That's why I have to go and start this journey so the Desians can be sealed and I can save everyone." He looked down. "People are sacrificing themselves for me already. I can't let them die because of me. If I can do something, I'll do it, and by receiving the oracle and going on the journey, I'd be doing just that."

"And we'll be there to help him." Genis added bravely, something he thought he'd never do personally. Where had this bravery come from? Oh well; he liked sounding that way. He would prove that he would be the one keep Lloyd protected. They were best friends after all. "Colette, you'll come too, right?" The elf boy asked.

"Yes. I want to see what will happen to Lloyd when he gets the oracle. I want to be there with him."

"But…" Frank started to object but saw the determination from all three. He sighed in defeat. "All right then. You three be careful and stay together, you hear?"

"We will, Father. Thank-you."

"Okay. Good luck to you all."

The man watched as the teens rushed past him, leaving for the temple's direction. He sighed; not only was his only daughter going but his adopted son, as well as Raine's little brother. In any way one would look at it, they were all they had left. Colette was the remainder of his late wife, Genis was the only family Raine had, and Lloyd; he was the Chosen. If he were to perish now, then all hope would be lost. Frank shook his head, heading over towards the schoolhouse where Lloyd mentioned the priest. As he was halfway there, a person was kneeling by him. He was tall, if he stood up, wearing a rather odd, purple outfit. His auburn hair was shoulder length, and his long bangs covered over his left eye, almost the entire left side of his face. His eyes were closed as if he was meditating, but that wasn't it. Was he…praying?

"…Sir?" Frank called over, wondering and curious. Curiosity seemingly ran in the family as Colette was no different.

The stranger stood up to his full height, exposing a sheathed sword at his left. He turned to face Frank with matching auburn eyes. "…" He dotted silently, but didn't seem like a threat. The father approached the dead man's body, sighing. The kids were right, however, but his gaze turned to the strange traveler. "Sir, are you—?"

"Where is the MartelTemple?" He asked.

That was a strange request, but nonetheless. "I-It's that way." Frank pointed out. "But you'll want to be careful. Desians are attacking the temple right now. The Chosen—Lloyd went to receive the oracle. Please, if you know anything of swordsmanship, please protect him and his friends…" The auburn stole a glance at Frank momentarily when he spoke Lloyd's name, almost as if it was poison. They remained that way for only a while until it was broken off by the swordsman. Also, as if taking this as a "yes I'll do it" answer, the stranger left in the direction given, leaving quietly as he came, oddly enough. Frank blinked curiously, watching him go. Who was that guy? His eyes looked so dead when their gazes locked for only a few seconds.

"…I wonder who that guy was… He looked…strange. Like…" He stopped himself, glancing up to the sky. "…Like…Lloyd. Only older…"

-x-x-x-

"Where is the Chosen?!" A Desian in blue shouted as he pushed an elderly woman, Phaidra, down. The old lady groaned in pain, but managed to get up and back away into the temple, frowning. As soon as she was about to recoil, the teenagers of Iselia appeared, gasping.

"Grandmother!" Colette shouted.

"Lady Phaidra!" Lloyd called out next. The old woman noticed them first, terrified.

"Colette! Genis! Chosen! Hurry! Get away!" She exclaimed worriedly.

The Desians turned around when they heard the teens' voices, scowling. One noticed the brunet standing in between the other two, pointing accusingly with his sword. "Lord Botta! There he is!" the henchman shouted. The man with the V-shaped brown hair turned, looking at Genis at first. No, that couldn't be him; he was much too young and according to his boss's light description of their target, he had brown hair. Then, he directed his eyes at Lloyd, narrowing them. This boy had brown hair and seemingly matched. Yes, this was the Chosen they were looking for. "Chosen One, your life is mine!" Botta shouted.

Genis took out his kendama as Colette with her chakrams. Lloyd glared the man as he addressed him like an object. He hated that. "I won't let you Desians get away with this!" Genis yelled. This caused the Desians in blue to laugh mockingly.

"Desians? Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" One laughed.

Genis blinked, anger rising but confused. "Wh-what's so funny!?" He growled.

"Well then…" Another Desian stepped forward, sword in hand. "Die at the Desians you so hate!" He jabbed his blade forward like a finger. "Get them!" The half-elves charged at the teens, rushing at them with their weapons clung tightly. Lloyd grimaced; he didn't have any weapons on him, and there was no way he'd get two swords, either. The wooden ones in Iselia broke each time he had practiced with them. He figured his inner strength, being an angel—in secret—was too much for the wooden blades. So, all he could do was use magic; he had been taught by Raine privately and personally.

"**Ray Thrust**!" Colette shouted as she threw a chakram discs at one the Desians, knocking him back slightly.

"**Fire Ball**!" Genis yelled in chant, finishing off the Desian Colette attacked. There were two more left.

One Desian attempted to charge Lloyd, but was dodged by the brunet who drop kicked the grunt upon his back. The boy quickly channeled a little mana in his body, pushing down on the Desian's back, shouting, "**Lightning**!" The electric shock of magic power surged through Lloyd, connecting with the Desian's body, electrocuting the half-elf. Genis and Colette looked in Lloyd's direction, stunned. Did their friend use magic? When did he learn this? As soon as that happened, the last Desian charged them wildly, only to be defeated by the children using magic and chakrams in retaliation. Lloyd noticed the dead Desian's swords and pieced together his only option of self defense other than magic. He quickly rushed to grab two of them by their hilts. The defeat of his henchmen angered Botta; this Chosen and his friends were quite strong for kids, but he wouldn't allow them to go too soon.

"This is getting frustrating. Vidarr!" Botta yelled.

Soon, a much taller, muscular Desian emerged, startling all three of the teens. How could they defeat _this_ guy? They had a little advantage, being smaller than him. Vidarr growled, spinning his spiked ball-in-chain weapon and slamming it to the ground. The impact knocked the three children down, making them tumble a distance. They groaned, but stood up; they couldn't fail! However, as Lloyd was preparing to stand, Vidarr towered him, his spiked ball railing towards him! The brunet's eyes widened, his heart cringed. No…he was going to die before getting the oracle! Then, the Desians could run rampant once more and hurt people! No!

"Lloyd!" Colette screamed in fear.

"Look out!" Genis panicked. The brunet, shaken in fear, closed his eyes, doomed for the worst.

The spiked ball got within a few inches of Lloyd's face, only to be reflected off with clang of steel. It recoiled off and Vidarr growled, stumbling back. Colette and Genis stared, wide-eyed as they saw a man in purple, with auburn hair, having appeared from nowhere. Lloyd opened his eyes, noticing the sounds echoed in his ears, but instead of seeing death, he saw this stranger. Where did he come from? How did he deflect that attack so swiftly? Apparently, his friends were wondering the same way, bewildered.

The man noticed the brunet's gaze, looking back at him with a ninety-degree gaze. "Get out of the way…" He told the Chosen.

Just who exactly WAS this guy?

* * *

Galdr: And, that's the end of this! XD Haha-yes…Kratos. It's sadly time for me to go to work!

Quick responses to reviews:

**SailorMint (Guest):** Your heart? D: I'm sorry, if Chapter four was sad.

**Marina Ka-Fai (Guest):** Hey, you're not signed into your account? XD Well, I'm glad you like! Yes, Lloyd's back!

Thanks for the reviews, faves and all! Review if you like!


	6. The Voice in His Memory

[What-if] What if Martel was Lloyd's mother? What if he was born a few years before the Kharlan War? What if Lloyd unintentionally became the next Chosen? Tales of Symphonia "what-if", partially follows the game/manga/OVA. [AU]

Sorry if I left off at a cliffhanger on Chapter 5. It was unintentional and I was rushed for time, as usual. I don't own Tales of Symphonia; if I did, Dan Green would have voiced Kratos instead. Anyone who doesn't know, the guy voiced Yami Yugi from Yu-Gi-Oh (Atem), Grovyle from the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon episodes and Knuckles from Sonic X. If you didn't know, then that's Dan Green's voice. I'm sure the guy voiced several other characters, but those are the only three I know well enough. Anyway, sadly as it may be, enough of Dan Green and onto the story. Review responses are the bottom as per usual.

I'm so happy this story is getting attention. –sheds tear of happiness–

Enjoy.

* * *

-x-x-x-

The Goddess's Son of Mana

**Chapter 6: The Voice in His Memory**

-x-x-x-

_"Come on Lloyd, run!" _

Lloyd saw himself, only younger, possibly about three or four, running as fast as his legs could take him. A woman's voice urged him to run, but he couldn't figure out what they were running from. He noticed the child's hand was being held by another's, but couldn't make out fully who she was. Her back was turned; all he saw was the light green of her hair as the toddler looked up, worry and fear mixed on his face. The woman was wearing black and green, and she held a staff in her other unoccupied hand. The skies were dark, clouded, and it would most likely rain soon. Lloyd stared down at his younger self, easily recognizing the clothes the child wore; it was a long, white sleeve shirt, dark blue shorts, socks and shoes. "…Weren't…those…? Wasn't I wearing those when I came to Iselia…?" He wondered to himself, watching the dream or whatever this was continued. It was familiar; he had this dream before several times, but every time it felt foreign.

_"Mommy! My…My legs hurt!" The little Lloyd wailed. _His legs were hurting? Had they been running for a long time? It wasn't long until Lloyd saw himself trip over a tree stump, wailing as his face hit the ground rather hard, scraping his knee in the process. _"Owwie!"_ He heard the child cry. The woman urgently rushed to the boy's side, picking him up and continued running. Soon, he heard shouts, voices he couldn't understand what was going on. He couldn't put faces on the voices; the noise was too loud for him to figure anything out. Suddenly, he heard himself cry out, _"Mommy!"_ The world seemed to have frozen right then and there, but Lloyd's vision clouded. All he could see was a blur of someone's body, a deep shade of red and someone crying out _"Martel!"_ in the distance. Was it in the distance? Lloyd spun around to see three people standing, having seen whatever just happened.

"Why…Why am I dreaming about…the goddess Martel?" He wondered, clutching his head. "This…This doesn't make any sense! This dream! Not again!"

"Why?!" He shouted at nothing, his glowing, blue wings bursting from his back in his mad panic. The teen covered his face with his hands, closing his eyes and growling at himself. Why did this dream appear every time? Why was it haunting him? He knew he was the Chosen and one day he would have to die for the goddess, but this wasn't normal! Or was it? Did every Chosen before him have these dreams? Or, was he the only one? "Someone…tell me why this dream keeps coming back…!"

_"Lloyd."_

There it was again. That soft, tenderly, motherly voice that would always speak when he was sleeping or day-dreaming. Lloyd wasn't asleep, he figured. He snapped his head up at the very sound, looking around everywhere. Even with his enhanced sight, he couldn't find whoever called his name. Panic entered his heart, his breathing echoed this as it was rapidly heaving and grasping for air every second. His chest felt like it was burning, but he ignored it. "Who…? Who's calling me?"

_"Lloyd…"_

"Who ARE you?!"

An image appeared before him, and shaped into what was a woman. She had light green hair, wearing a black and green outfit, her pale gold eyes finding his. They stared, transfixed on one another, however, the woman simply held a soft smile while Lloyd was gawking at her appearance. Now he was dreaming of women? What kind of Chosen was he? He paled, but had a feeling he _knew_ this woman, whoever she was. The fact was he was still curious, and now wondered how he was dreaming of someone he had never even met before.

Or had he?

_"Lloyd… Please…"_ It was the woman's voice again, but it sounded so much closer. In fact, it echoed within his heart. _"Don't… Give in."_ What was she saying? _"My son…"_ Son!? Before he could utter a question, darkness surrounded them, and then it consumed him. He watched as the image of the woman was fading away, him being dragged down like quicksand.

"No, wait!" Lloyd called out, terrified. "Wait! Who are you? What do you mean?!" He got no answer; only clouded vision. All the brunet could think now was 'what the hell was happening?'.

-x-x-x-

"Lloyd!"

The brunet heard the panicking of his friend's, Colette's voice, enter his mind and he suddenly opened his eyes. Wait, since when did he fall asleep? He clearly remembered being awake. His eyes adjusted to the near sobbing blue eyes of the blonde's, and to the worried blue shades of Genis'. Lloyd internally scolded himself for making his friends worry for him and also wondered what he did to cause them such. "Oh, you're awake! Oh, Lloyd!" Colette wrapped her arms around him as he sat up, the teen returning the affection. He was still clueless as to what happened.

"What happened?" Lloyd asked, dumbfounded.

"You…passed out." Genis answered. "A Desian named Vidarr was about to assault you, but this mercenary came and saved you. After he defended you, you just went blank and passed out." The elven boy sighed in relief, knowing his friend was okay. "Colette and I…we thought…"

"It's okay, Genis. I'm sorry for worrying you both." Lloyd said with an assuring smile. After all, it was his fault they were worried. Colette and Genis allowed their friend his space as he stood up slowly, shaking out his light daze when on both of his feet. His eyes traveled from the smiling expression of his two friends to Phaidra, and then lastly to the mercenary, who had been staring at him for quite a long time. Lloyd had once read that mercenaries usually never showed any affection or emotion to their clients or other people. They lived by money and that was it. However, the gaze this man was giving him was nothing short of that. He almost looked at him sadly. Why was this guy sad?

"This is the person who saved us?" Lloyd asked.

"Yup! He's really strong!" Colette chirped. "You should have seen how he moved so quickly with his sword and killed those Desians!" She stopped when she noticed the frown on Lloyd's face and frowned herself. "Oh, I'm sorry Lloyd…"

"That's fine." He said softly, mentally sighing.

"Yeah, he's very strong. It was like almost watching a blur of movements." Genis added.

"I'll bet…" Lloyd mumbled under his breath. His gaze looked up to man in purple, a mixture of a grim and sad expression on his features. Before he could ask, the swordsman spoke first, almost trembling.

"…Your…name is Lloyd?" He half breathed out the question with almost uncertainty, but it was as if he had realized something. That was the expression Lloyd was reading off him.

"Yeah, it is. Who are you?" The brunet asked half politely.

"…My name is Kratos. I'm a traveling mercenary." He began. "I was coming to Iselia to visit for old time's sake and overheard that Desians were attacking the temple. I was approached by a villager and he asked me to come to your aid." It wasn't entirely a lie. "The man looked like you." He now directed this at Colette, who blinked in curiosity.

"Oh! Th-that was my father!" She realized. "He…he sent you to help us?"

"…Quite frankly, yes."

"Oh…Father…" Colette sighed in relief.

Phaidra approached the mercenary, smiling. "Oh, how can I ever thank you for protecting the Chosen?" Kratos looked from her to focus his gaze upon Lloyd again, connecting the dots. Yes, this was Lloyd Brunel, the next Chosen, as Yggdrasil told him. It was also true, that he held an uncanny resemblance to his son. This reincarnate even had the same, unusual hairstyle as his young son, and the mana that poured out of him was enormous. In fact, it felt like an angel's mana. Internally, Kratos was shuddering. This child, this reincarnate of his once dead son, had every appearance and likeness of his boy, he could have called _him_ his son, only older. It was terrifying, and yet, at the same time, almost comforting. The shattered remains of his fatherhood slowly began rebuilding itself. He so deeply wanted to touch this child, to make sure he was real.

_No._ Kratos reprimanded himself. _He's…Just the Chosen. He's not my son. He is…just a reincarnate. Of course he would look like him and have the same mana signature. _Still, the father in him couldn't resist. Was Martel really blessing him with this chance? Reincarnates usually gain the memories of their past lives, so what would happen if he managed to grab a hold of the past Lloyd's life and figure out he was his father? Or rather, he was the other Lloyd's father? What if he figured out he would become the very vessel for his dead mother's soul? He was demand answers to questions the auburn was unsure he wouldn't be able to answer. Not in this state, no. Now that he opened his mind to the realization, what would he, Kratos, do in such a situation? Yggdrasil must have known it would happen; he was trying to put the man in a guilt trip with his reincarnated son. To torture him for his failure for not protecting his sister, his beloved wife, all those years ago.

_Damn it, Yggdrasil. You did this on purpose._ Kratos growled to himself, dismissing the thoughts. "So, this boy is the Chosen?" He asked monotonously, already knowing he was, but had to put up an act for these people.

"Yeah, he is!" chirped Colette. "He's going to receive the oracle from within the temple."

"I see." Kratos turned from the peppy girl, his eyes locked onto Phaidra. "I'll take on the job of guarding and protecting the Chosen if you're willing to pay me."

"I…I see. The priests that were supposed to be escorting and guiding the Chosen fell at the hands of the Desians. Under the circumstances of this and if there is really no other way…" The priestess began softly. "Very well, then. We shall make an agreement at my house later." Her aged blue eyes found the brunet's, softening. "Lloyd, please be careful in there."

"I will Lady Phaidra. Thank you."

As he began to walk ahead into the temple, followed by Kratos, Genis called out to him, hopeful. "Wait, Lloyd! Can Colette and I come, too?" The brunet stopped, turning to his friends. A simple smile crossed his face, though before he could answer, Kratos spoke up first.

"I would advise against taking them. I sense dangers inside the chapel, meaning monsters will most likely lurk inside." The mercenary said.

"What?" The elf boy blinked. "We can handle ourselves! Right, Colette?"

"Yeah!" The girl agreed happily. "We want to come with you, Lloyd."

"Sure." Lloyd replied. "I'll feel safer and less nervous with you two coming with me, no offense Mr. Kratos." The swordsman let a small sigh escape his mouth before closing his eyes.

"If it's your wish to take them, Chosen, then I'll respect your decision."

"All right!" Genis beamed brightly. "Come on, Colette! Lloyd!" the silver-haired mage hurried into the temple first, Kratos following after him.

"This isn't a field trip, you know." The auburn reminded the boy, who was way ahead of them. Colette caught up to Lloyd, smiling as brightly as her blonde hair. The brunet smiled back, feeling that safety he had mentioned moments ago surfacing in his heart. Yes, he felt better around his friends, around familiar faces. Kratos seemed like a trustworthy man, but it was nothing compared to the friendship he had with Colette and Genis. "Thank-you, Lloyd, for letting us come with you." She said as they were entering the temple.

"It's no trouble, Colette. But I meant it. I feel better with you and Genis with me." He admitted as they disappeared into the temple, leaving Phaidra behind.

-x-x-x-

"What!?" A man shouted, his fist slamming onto his desk. He had long, electric blue hair that was tied in a ponytail, bangs parted to the right side of his face. He had emerald green eyes which were now firing up with anger. "Are you sure you saw him there?"

"Yes, I'm very sure of it." Botta said, closing his eyes. "Kratos appeared and slaughtered the rest of my men. I had no choice but to retreat with the remainders. I apologize, Lord Yuan." The scowling half-elf by name sighed in exasperation, calming himself down. There was no reason to be angry with his second-in-command, but he hadn't counted on Kratos' meddling, or rather, his appearance. That Chosen was as good as his, but then he had to show up and ruin things. This also changed his plans. While he was in deep thought, Botta continued. "Sir, our target's name is Lloyd Brunel—" That's as far as Botta had gotten when Yuan snapped his eyes wider.

"…Did…Did you say _Lloyd_ Brunel?" He repeated, slowly and almost deathly.

Botta nervously nodded, but kept his composure. "Y-yes sir. When we encountered him at the temple, we overheard his name being shouted simply as "Lloyd". Then, the villagers of Iselia fully whispered "Lloyd Brunel" as we left the area and hurried here in our retreat."

"No…it's…impossible." Yuan grimaced, his mind roving. He suddenly thought of something, and then began piecing things together. No, it couldn't be! He was dead. They couldn't find him all those centuries ago! And yet, if it was true, then that means… "Kratos may want to kill someone soon if he figures it out." The blue-haired half elf deduced. Yggdrasil said they had a new Chosen on the way and that this Chosen had an exact match of Martel's mana signature, it was as if Martel had blessed them with a new one. _Like the hell she did._ Yuan muttered to himself in-thought, growling. He overheard the new Chosen looked like an exact replica of their Lloyd; he was a reincarnate. It was sickening, that Yggdrasil would be using his nephew—or at least, his nephew's reincarnate—to revive his dead mother, his sister. That blasted fool! What if during the journey, the reincarnate regained memories of the past Lloyd? Kratos would be there with no answers to his millions of questions!

"This…changes a lot of things." Yuan told Botta, staring at nothing in particular. One thing was for sure, he had to get a closer look at the boy. Maybe Yggdrasil was playing them for a fool, or maybe he had been trying to find ways to torment Kratos. After all, that man had abandoned Cruxis at one point, where he met a human named Anna. The man tried to revive his sense of humanity, but it was all destroyed two years after their relationship. _That poor man, I almost feel bad for him. Losing his wife and child, then having to kill his nearly second wife…_ Yuan thought again, sighing. Now, he had to think on more important things, like that Lloyd Brunel, the new Chosen of Sylvarant.

"No…this doesn't change my plans by much…" The blue-haired half elf said again, staring at the dark brown-haired half-elf near. "Botta…"

"Yes, Lord Yuan?"

"Station some men in Triet. They'll eventually have to come to the desert town and restock. Make sure Kratos is nowhere around and capture Lloyd and bring him here to me."

"Yes sir." Botta replied, bowing before leaving the man alone to his thoughts again.

Yuan sat in his rotating chair, pondering. He wasn't stupid to not think of the connections this new Lloyd would most likely have with the Lloyd he had known for only four years. Of course he would grow suspicious of this. A boy reincarnate of the one who died would definitely be a split image of their past life. Yuan knew how this would work out; the reincarnate would eventually start remembering their past lives' memories, remembering places they had once visited, believing they themselves had gone there but in actuality, they hadn't. They would recall any form of relationship with the people they had once known, or realize there was a connection to them. Kratos being near this new Lloyd would trigger the boy's memory into recalling the past Lloyd's own, and soon recognizing him as his father. If Yuan appeared on the scene, he may remember him to boot.

"That would be…terrible." The half-elf angel mumbled to himself at the thought of his godson's reincarnate remembering him if they met. But, then, it would be worth it all. He had a plan and needed to put it in motion while the new Lloyd didn't recall Kratos at all. It was a risk worth taking, in order to bring Yggdrasil and Cruxis down and let Martel's soul rest in peace once and for all.

_Martel, even though I loved you but never said anything, this is my gift to you. To set you free from the Great Seed._

-x-x-x-

"Wow, the interior of the temple is impressive!" Genis gawked, eyeing the details of the painted carvings upon the walls, the floors and how huge the place was inside. "Man, if Raine was here, she'd go crazy." The other two teens chuckled at Genis' indication of his sister. "So, Lloyd, this is what the temple looks like all the time?"

"Yeah, it's usually dark like this." The brunet replied. "Not much light to go on."

"It's sort of depressing, but nonetheless, this is great!"

"I agree." Colette grinned truthfully.

They were standing in the center of the foyer of the temple's middle level, the two Iselians finding the interior of the temple amazing. There was a gate with a blue electric-like barrier around it, possibly to keep out intruders or the like. When Genis pointed to it, Lloyd replied they would need an item called the Sorcerer's Ring to unlock it. Well, they better get on with it! Since the leftmost path was cut off abruptly by large, fallen chucks of debris, they proceeded to the right path, up the small set of stairs and down the hall. Along the way, Kratos eyed Lloyd closely, trying to pick out anything in the boy that told him his son existed in this reincarnate. Other than the hairstyle, the eyes, and that smile of his that reminded him of his sweet Martel, he couldn't find anything on the teen that would otherwise speak of his dead son.

"Chosen—" Kratos began but…

"His name is Lloyd." Genis cut in, correcting the older man.

The mercenary sighed internally but continued with his query anyway as he got Lloyd's attention anyhow. "Are you good with your blades?"

"Hm? Yes, I am. Why?"

"I was merely asking if you knew the basics of swordplay."

"I know some, enough to protect myself. Basic thrusting, horizontal and vertical slashes, countering and parrying." The teen Chosen replied. Kratos nodded; thankful the boy had some form of self-protection. Not that he would have minded protecting the teenager from danger if he didn't have any sort of fighting power, but he didn't want to babysit. "To be honest, I stole these swords from those Desians. Iselia doesn't have…real swords." The mercenary raised a questionable gaze but didn't pry into it further. Then again, he wasn't too surprised; Iselia four thousand years ago didn't carry real weapons back then, either. Another thing that caught Kratos' attention…

"Chosen—"

"_Lloyd_." Genis butted in again, frowning.

"—is there any reason you use two swords…?"

Lloyd looked up for a moment, blinking, then faced the auburn, smiling. "Well, when I was nine, I was sitting in class one day, and Professor Raine had been teaching us math. Normally, I don't like math or anything too hard, but what she said that day made me want to try it."

"…And what would that be?" Kratos inquired, getting suspicious of the boy's near-answer.

"Well, she taught us that one apple plus another apple equaled two apples. You'd have two more than one to eat. So I thought, 'what if I used two swords, then I'd be twice as strong'." The brunet grinned brightly, giving Kratos the scare of his life mentally. That smile…so much Martel was in it, it was terrifying Kratos and made every fiber of his being shudder. This boy seemed more than a reincarnate of his son; it almost _felt_ like he was the boy himself, only older. Just as his fatherly temptations tried to reach out for him, the angel within him struck the feeling down, remembering Yggdrasil's exact words:

_"I don't want you getting attached to this boy, Kratos. He is _not_ your son. He may be a reincarnation, but he isn't our same little Lloyd. Don't forget and don't allow your emotions to best you."_

Of course he wasn't. There was no way. Kratos closed his eyes momentarily, looking ahead of the path. He needed to drown out whatever father was left in him and destroy it fast before it revived itself. Lloyd Brunel was not his Lloyd Aurion, simply put. Up ahead, there were stairs which lead down into another part of the temple, which revealed to be a puzzle. Colette and Genis quizzically stared at the glass-looking floor and what appeared to be block-shaped holes in the floor. "Whoa!" the mage gasped. "This must be a puzzle of sorts."

"Yeah, it is." Lloyd said, frowning. He didn't like puzzles that much; they gave him a headache.

"Don't worry about it too much, Lloyd." Colette smiled.

"Yeah…Hey, look over there!" Genis pointed out to a large, stone golem creature that was walking around aimlessly like a robot. The group stared at the creature then looked at one another. Lloyd eventually realized what they needed to do and grinned. Despite he didn't like being drilled on things while being half-sheltered the rest of his young life in the temple, it would surely pay off. "We have to defeat it." He told them.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. That's…all I know, though." The others sighed comically at Lloyd's answer, but decided to go with it. What was there to lose, anyway? Weapons out, they charged the golem beast head on, albeit carefully. The golem noticed the humans—and elves, if that mattered—nearing it, and reacted by spinning its huge arms in perfect three-hundred and sixty degrees rapidly. The impact struck Genis and Lloyd off, allowing Kratos to dive in and attack with a diagonal slash. Colette, being towards the back—as Lloyd told her and Genis to be, despite the elf boy refusing at the moment—twirled her chakrams, throwing them skillfully as she possibly could while aiming for the living statue.

"**Demon Fang**!" Lloyd shouted as he sent the technical attack at the golem, hoping it would do some damage. However, the living statue shrugged it off as if the attack tickled or something! This lightly infuriated Lloyd, but he couldn't get angrier than that. Damn suppressed emotions! The golem reared its left fist back, slamming it down towards the brunet, who crossed his blades over him in defense, blocking the attack. The stinging of the clash made his arms feel like jello for a few seconds, though he managed to roll out of the way when its second fist came down, crashing into the ground.

Genis, having been off to the side had been gathering mana and chanting his spell, finally raised his kendama as the magic filled it. "**Fire Ball**!" He yelled, sending the flaming balls of fire towards the rock golem. The magic connected, doing a decent amount of damage, but it still persisted! The elf mage echoed Lloyd's frustration fury, diving to the right when the golem attempted to attack him. "This thing is impossible! How are we going to beat this?"

"We have to try!" Colette called over, spinning her discs as she caught them in mid-air, preparing to throw them again. "**Ray Thrust**!" She chucked the bladed Frisbees, which accurately cut into the golem's rocky shoulders. Sensing the attack that hit, the rock statue loomed towards Colette, spinning its arms to hit the girl. She paled, standing there horrified, and her eyes wide. "Ah!" She squeaked, raising her arms over her in light defense.

"Colette!" Lloyd raced over to her aid, using his swords to block the attacks of the golem that were meant for his friend.

Just as it was occupied with Lloyd and Colette, Kratos flew behind it, almost literally, and drove his longsword through it, somehow, calling out, "**Sonic Thrust**!" The beastly golem reacted, trying to hit the mercenary, and didn't succeed as the man had already bounded away and leapt again to strike. His auburn eyes narrowed in a semi-deathly gaze, keeping his sword near his face vertically as he charged tow swing horizontally. Lloyd, on the opposite side of the golem, charged as well, both swords in hand. Both swordsmen clashed with the rock being simultaneously, three swords toppling over it in unison. It gurgled out something unintelligible, before transforming into a stone block. What?

"It…it turned into a rock?" Genis questioned, confused as they gathered around it.

"Well, it was a rock to begin with." Lloyd added.

Colette smiled, moving towards it but tripped, knocking into the block accidentally! "Oops!" she squeaked, being caught by Lloyd before she hit the ground. The blonde looked up, blushing lightly when she saw the brunet holding and helping her up. "Th-thank you, Lloyd."

"No problem, Colette. You have to be careful, you know?"

"Yeah…"

The stone block that Colette "pushed" lightly reacted, sliding over into an opening on the tile, glass floor—that seemingly hadn't been damaged even after their fight with the golem. It fell through the square hole, falling into place with the bottom floor and creating a sort of pathway, now accessible. The four looked down, two questionable and the other two figuring it out the puzzle.

"I see…" Kratos mused.

"…Yeah, I get it now." Genis said to himself.

"Wait, what?" Lloyd blinked, dumbfounded. What were they talking about?

"Did you figure out how the puzzle works?" Colette asked, mainly to Genis.

"Yeah." The elf boy replied.

"If our hunch is correct then…" Kratos trailed as another golem seemingly appeared out of nowhere, Genis noticing it first.

"There!" He pointed out to the group, who all turned simultaneously. Lloyd stared, Colette gasped and Kratos was Kratos; he didn't seem to put on any expression at all.

"What…? I've never seen this in the temple before." The brunet sighed, exasperating. In fact, he hadn't seen monsters inside the temple, either.

"Hm, Genis, what just happened? Why is there another one?" The blond female wondered, looking at the silver-haired mage.

"Well, see, when we defeated that stone golem, it turned into a block, right? Then, when you pushed it down, it fell through the hole here," he paused to point so the girl understood, "making an accessible walkway, which the stairs leading to such are here and there." He then pointed out the obvious set of stairs on the left and right of the glass tile. "And, watching that happen, I instantly thought the process would need to repeat itself in order for us to complete the walkway below us. That's why another golem appeared."

"Oh, I see now." Colette said, smiling as she absorbed the information like a sponge.

"I sort of get it now." Lloyd added, having listened to Genis' explanation. As much as he hated puzzles, he couldn't sit out on how they worked.

"We have to defeat that one and then another will appear." Genis added. "Then, it'll keep repeating itself until the passage is completed."

"Right." The brown-haired Chosen replied, getting his swords ready. "Let's get this over with." The quad found themselves approaching the stone golem, which had been walking around aimlessly, engaging in another bout with it. Kratos sighed internally yet again; already, this journey was becoming a hassle.

-x-x-x-

_"Lloyd… Please don't give in…my son."_

"That voice again…"

_"You mustn't…"_

"What? What is that supposed to mean?"

The image of the woman reappeared in the darkness of his mind again, looking upon the teen with her pale gold eyes. She reached out, touching his shoulder, smiling. _"This journey…will give you vast knowledge. However…"_ She paused, locking eyes with the boy. _"I fear the worse will come when you…"_ She trailed.

"Huh? 'When I' what?" Lloyd wondered, curiosity rising. What was she trying not to tell him? What information was she keeping from him? "If you mean I must die for the goddess Martel, then I know that already. I already knew that since I was little." The woman looked down at him with sadness in her eyes, as if she were to cry if she furthered herself to. "I… I'm willing to do that if it means saving this world. I know I'll worry my friends, and I wish I wouldn't, but there's no other way without me sacrificing everything I have, my own body, to do this…saving that was bestowed upon me." Lloyd shook his head. "I know of no other way. The angels chose me, and I must follow."

_"Lloyd…You're a brave boy."_

"…Thank…you." Suddenly, his question from earlier rose to his mind; he questionably glanced in the woman's direction, watching as her eyes closed, still filled with sadness. "Who are you, though? What is your name? Why do you appear to me in every dream? And, why do you keep referring me to your son?" He almost had a hunch, but he wanted to be certain of it.

The woman paused momentarily, soaking in the boy's rapid fire questions, ordering them which she should answer. After a while, she looked up, finally, that emotion she tried to keep away, fell down her face in the form of tears. _"I am…the spirit of Martel. There is mana within you that she had sealed within you, is reacting. It is…giving this form of her to reside in you."_ Lloyd, shocked, looked at her, paling if he could be. This was Martel? This was the goddess that everyone revered so much? The same one in the legend of the Kharlan War? And she was here, apparently "holed up" in his body the entire time? Well, part of her was. There was no doubt; he was _definitely_ the Chosen if the spirit of Martel resided in him.

"…I…I had no idea…" Lloyd babbled under his breath, still surprised. "But, then those dreams, were they just dreams or memories…"

_"You will discover your true self, Lloyd. I appear to you every night to make sure you are safe. Martel would…I would…be devastated if something were to happen to you."_

"Is it because I'm the Chosen? You don't want me to fail, right?" The brunet asked, frowning. "I've heard several Chosens before me failing because Desians killed them."

However, instead of nodding, the woman shook her head. _"It has nothing to do with you being the Chosen, Lloyd. It is something much deeper than that."_

"Okay, so what is it?" He pushed on, but the woman's image was fading! No, not again! "Wait! No, don't leave, Martel! …Or Martel's spirit! Whoever you are, come back! I still have questions!" It was all for nothing. He sighed heavily, feeling left in the dark. Well, not that was literal, but it was. He was in an area surrounded by nothing but perpetual darkness. He finally learned something about this woman who appeared to him. She was the spirit of Martel, therefore residing in him. If she and Martel weren't worried for his well-being because he was the Chosen, what could be deeper than that?

"…oyd!"

The boy was growing a headache, and unnaturally so. Those dreams he kept having if he ever closed his eyes, they were haunting him. How could he learn of those? Perhaps the Spirit of Martel could answer those questions the next time he saw her. In fact, there were several other questions he had and he wanted to know the answers to them; answers that only she could give to him and to sate his appetite for knowledge and for his mind's sake. If the journey wouldn't throw him into insanity, then never knowing the answer to a question would for sure. "I have to find the truth." He told himself.

"Lloyd!"

A voice was trying to enter his mind, and he snapped his head up. He was being called by someone, and he knew who it was. "Colette…"

-x-x-x-

_"Lloyd…"_

He turned his head in the direction of Colette, looking into her worried eyes, followed by Genis' and then seeing Kratos' glance as well.

_"I would rather you turn back and never go on this…journey."_

They got the Sorcerer's Ring, and finally heading back to the main entrance, near the barrier-guarded gate.

_"I know…what will happen to you, should you continue to do this."_

Genis grinned happily as Lloyd gave him the ring to try it out. He aimed with the ring, firing the small ball of fire towards the barrier, making it disappear. "That worked out well." The mage boy said, giving the ring back to Lloyd. "It looks like it's open, so let's go!" The others nod as the gate opened and a few steps forward, they found a purple, glowing ring of a circle, light emitting from it.

_"That is why…I will see you when you unlock each seal. To be there for you when you need me."_

"What is that?" Colette wondered, curious.

"It's the portal to the altar. We have to go through there." Lloyd answered.

"Oh, that's so neat!" she chirped afterwards.

_"Kratos…You do not realize it fully, but I know you sense it in your heart. Please protect our son. Please…"_

They used the portal to enter the altar of the temple, the light from outside reduced to mere sparkles. However, upon the altar was a blue gem, glowing with an alluring aura. Lloyd stared transfixed at the marble-sized jewel, knowing what it was. He knew his friends didn't know what it was. "Hey, what's…that?" Genis asked, his eyes never leaving the crystal. Colette stared as well, amazed.

"It's…the Cruxis Crystal." Lloyd replied. "They—I was found holding it in my hand when I was younger. I'm not sure how it got in my possession, though. The priests say I was born with it before I was abandoned by my parents." This struck Kratos in the heart; regardless if this boy was his son's reincarnate, how could the child's own parents leave him to suffer by his lonesome? "Also," he heard Lloyd continuing and focused on the child incarnate, "they told me I may be the reincarnation of the goddess's son." Another heart strike to Kratos. Did…did this Lloyd already know!? "The goddess Martel had a son also named Lloyd. The goddess bore him with a human man, but the man's name was never in the legend." Thank goodness, then. "The passages say the son of the goddess was really young but very smart and was an angel. He allowed the sacrificing of his life for his mother in the war to become an enormous amount of mana to help Mithos, the Hero and his companions end the war. His sacrifice made a huge difference in the Great Kharlan War."

If you mean he was encased in a solidified encasement of mana, then he was spared. Kratos wanted to say, but didn't. He had his arms crossed, staring at the Lloyd-alike. He was taught by priests that he was incarnate of his Lloyd, and even Yggdrasil said so. The boy didn't mention anything of his relation to the goddess, so therefore, his memories of the past Lloyd hadn't triggered yet. So far so good; the auburn was in the clear for now. "Wow, Lloyd! I didn't know that!" Colette said with happily, although astounded. "So you'll become an angel and meet the Lloyd's mother in heaven!"

"Y-yeah." Lloyd chuckled.

"That's awesome!" Genis gaped in delight. "I know we learned of the goddess having a child in class, but it was never explained completely…"

"Because it's only in passages of the books here in the temple. They wouldn't let just anyone know about that. Imagine if the world knew who I was…The reincarnation of the angel Lloyd." He sighed. "I'd be hunted…"

_And I would have killed them._ Kratos thought dangerously, but remained quiet. His fatherly instincts kicked in again, though he controlled it. The chattering teens continued chatting for a minute until Lloyd stopped, stepping towards the glowing altar. The light from it lit up brighter, flashing and stunning the children. From the beacon of light, formed a ball of mana, stretching out and expanding to take shape into a human being with pure, white wings. Lloyd gasped at the vast amount of mana he felt and so did Genis. Colette, being the human she was, could only see the brilliant light and Kratos, even though he could feel it, didn't express any emotion to this. Descending upon the altar was a winged man, dressed in green robes, a hat over his short, blond locks and had deep, blue eyes. He scanned the chamber, eyes first falling upon Lloyd, as he stood there, half gaping and half expectantly, then to Genis and Colette's amazement expressions, and lastly, upon the mercenary who stood in the back. They locked gazes for only a few seconds before breaking their glances off.

"Wh-what is that…?" Genis whispered softly, mostly to himself.

With his supernatural angelic-enhanced hearing, Kratos replied. "An angel, I assume…" The elf mage glanced his way, surprised. How had the man heard his question? He was barely above a whisper!

"…Is this…Lloyd's real father, then?" Colette wondered next.

The mercenary gave a glance to the girl, not knowing himself. In fact, he was unsure if this reincarnate of Lloyd's parents looked anything like him or Martel for that matter. They were most likely normal human beings.

"I am Remiel," the angel man began, his voice being deep and warmly as possible. "I am an angel of judgment, here to guide Lloyd, son of the mana lineage, on his journey to heaven as the seventh Chosen." He descended further, the blue crystal that had been hovering whimsically on the altar for years floated to his grasp, albeit still afloat. The angel was also mid-air, his wings providing this. "The time has come to awaken the Goddess Martel, who sleeps at the center of the world."

"…Awaken the goddess Martel…" Genis gasped in realization. "It's…just like the legend Raine taught us in class." Colette glanced his way, nodding happily. They were both excited they could see this, the legend unfolding right before their very eyes. They glanced back towards Lloyd, who stood there as if he were trained to do so. The name Martel struck him again, though he held it back. The angel nodded to Lloyd, who nodded back, buttoning down the top portion of his red coat to expose his neck. This was how the priests mentioned it would happen, if he wore something over his neck. Once that was done, Remiel allowed the crystal to leave his grasp, floating down towards the brunet. Within its golden aura, it illuminated Lloyd's face before flashing brightly. It blinded him for a second, revealing itself on the base of his neck like a necklace. The small, blue jewel had transformed into a larger-scaled crystal in the shape of a diamond within a crest. The boy gasped in awe, needless to say, as well as his friends.

"From this moment, Lloyd becomes the Chosen of Regeneration," Remiel began, smiling warmly at the three, but darkly in Kratos' direction. The mercenary wondered why the angel was testing his patience. Thankfully, the children didn't see the side glance of the angel. "We of Cruxis bless this event, and hereby bestow the Tower of Salvation upon Sylvarant." The winged man stared out the window and everyone, except Kratos, stared outside it. There, in the farthest distance of Sylvarant, was a tall, beautiful structure; it appeared to be a white pillar to them, but that was no doubt the Tower in which was spoken in legend. Colette clasped her hands together, Genis stared and Lloyd was even in awe, but deep within, he wondered if he could do this. Could he? Would he give himself up for his friends? _No, I _**have** _to! I have to protect them, no matter what. The world needs to be freed of Desians. I'll make sure of it…And make sure to save the lives of everyone._ He thought, pushing all his doubt off the table as if they were useless material on a desk. _I have to be brave until the end. I must go through every trial._

"That's…the Tower of Salvation!" Colette chirped.

"Now the world will be saved!" Genis chimed in.

Lloyd smiled internally at his friends then turned back to Remiel. "Lloyd, Chosen of Regeneration," Remiel spoke again as he looked down upon the boy. "Unlock the seals that guard the Tower of Salvation and climb its stairs to heaven in distant lands."

The brunet nodded, closing his eyes. "I humbly accept this task bestowed before and on me."

The angel man nodded, continuing. "Very good. We of Cruxis shall grant you the power of the angels with each seal you unlock. Once you are reborn as an angel, this eroded world shall be regenerated." Lloyd opened his eyes, staring at Remiel. He was already an angel, so what would happen at each seal? Would he go through the symptoms again? The very thought of it made the boy shudder internally, and then he pushed them away again as soon as he felt them building again. No, if he had to do it, then he would. Everyone was counting on him to finish this task. Their world hung in the balance; everyone's lives were virtually at stake. "I swear upon my life that I will regenerate the world, Lord Remiel." Lloyd replied, his pale-gold and brown mixed eyes locking gazes with the angel's blue ones.

"First, head south, to the Seal of Fire," Remiel began again, still with his deep voice. "Offer your prayers there in that distant land."

"Yes, Lord Remiel."

The angel nodded and began ascending, the flap of his wings gently making the air around them whisper. Before he got any higher, Lloyd gazed questionably at him. He was also told that Chosens were angel-born children, that their true parents were actually angels. Maybe, maybe Remiel was…? "Wait, Lord Remiel!" Lloyd called to him, his brown eyes staring transfixed upon the angel. "I…Are you…really my fath—?" He didn't get to finish.

"First, head south to the Seal of Fire." Remiel interrupted, looking at the boy. "My beloved son, Lloyd."

The words sunk deeply into Lloyd, his eyes nearly watering but he kept it to himself. Kratos, however, wanted to shank someone with his sword, and that person was a particular angel with wings; he was starting to get on his nerves.

"…You…You really are my father?" Lloyd looked down, trying to blink his tears away. So, why had he abandoned him in that forest if he was his father? Why didn't he come to him when he was all alone, looking for him? However, deep down, he felt the angel had no choice, that if he were to become the next Chosen, he would have to be raised normally and learn of everything he needed to know. In a twisted sense of things, Lloyd slowly began understanding. He was the goddess Martel's son's reincarnation; the original Lloyd was an angel, so therefore, it made sense that he would be the son of one, too. He looked up one more time, watching as the smiling Remiel ascended further, and in a spiral of feathers, he vanished within the light. The children missed the glares the angel and Kratos shared momentarily before his departure.

A few moments after everything calmed down, with Lloyd staring at the altar, Genis and Colette picked up in conversation.

"So that was the oracle, huh? Raine would have loved to see him. I wish she could have been here." The elf mage said, half sadly.

"Yeah, me too." The girl replied, then gazed over to the brunet. She approached her friend, her adopted brother, looking at him. His expression was a mix of happiness, confusion, acceptance and fear. "Lloyd…? Are you all right?"

The teen by name looked at her, smiling. "I'm all right… I'm just in shock." He replied, though looked sadly. "I…just can't believe Remiel is my real father. But it makes sense. If I'm the reincarnation of the Angel Lloyd, then I'd be a descendant of one, too. I mean, there's no other way to explain it, right?"

"I can't see any other way." The blonde chirped happily, rubbing his shoulder affectionately. Their peaceful moment was interrupted by none other than the silent mercenary.

"You've received the oracle. Let us leave now, Chosen—"

"_Lloyd_." Genis corrected him again. Kratos dismissed his third correction of the day, and headed towards the portal.

"We're going on ahead."

"Oh…right…" Lloyd said in a disappointed tone. He really wanted to be with his friends. He stepped over to the portal as well with Kratos, looking at Genis and Colette. "Guys, thanks for coming with me, really. Come by the house later, Genis. Colette, don't be late or Frank will be worried about you."

"Okay then, see you later!" The girl chirped.

After that, the two warped away, leaving the two Iselians by their lonesome. A moment later and Genis struck up another conversation with the blonde. "Wow, I guess the rumors were true. That Lloyd was a descendant of an angel. But from what he's told us about the Angel Lloyd from the war, it was possible."

"Yeah. It sure surprised me, too." Colette agreed. "But, I wonder where his real parents are…? Well, at least his mother, I mean. He was adopted into my family a couple years before I was born."

"So, Lloyd's not your _real_ brother, then?"

"No, but I wish he was." The girl said. "But, I believe it doesn't matter if were not related by blood. We're family anyway."

"That's true." The elf boy agreed. "Well, we should get going before we get in trouble."

"Oh, right!"

The two friends headed over to the portal in which Kratos and Lloyd used minutes earlier, warping back to the main floor of the temple. Once out, they walked past the opened gate, down the stairs and— "Genis, Colette! What are you two doing here!?" Uh-oh. They flinched, turning to see Raine coming from nowhere, really, and glaring down at them. They were in trouble now. However, they saw Lloyd and Kratos still inside the building, both were stopped by the professor when she came in earlier. This wasn't looking good.

"Uh…Sis, I can explain!" Genis defended as the tall woman neared him.

"Wait, Professor! Don't hit Genis." Lloyd intervened. "I…I asked if he and Colette could come with me. Please, punish me if you have to, but don't hurt Genis. He's not at fault." The silver-haired elf woman in orange looked down at her brother, then to Colette and lastly to Lloyd. She sighed heavily as the Chosen was willing to put himself in the total blame to save Genis' ass, more or less.

"Very well, then. Lloyd, when you're done here, I'll assign three months worth of homework that you will do alone."

"All right, I can…take it." He accepted his punishment.

"As for you…" Raine glanced over to her still panicking brother. "You'll be getting harder assignments."

Genis sighed. "Awwh…"

Colette shook her head. "Wait, what about me? I'm just as guilty." Raine turned to the blonde's direction, arms crossed, pondering on a suitable punishment for the girl. "If you're going to punish them, then I should—"

"I'll think of something for you later, Colette." The elder Sage sibling said. "Now, if you've all learned your lesson, return to the village. Class is dismissed for the rest of the day."

"What about you, Raine?" Genis wondered.

"I've received permission from Phaidra to study this temple a little while longer." The woman replied, smiling. "It's not often that ordinary citizens have the opportunity to enter this place." She looked at each of her students and even Kratos before heading down the right-hand path. They watched her as she disappeared down the hall. They were spared a severe punishment, thankfully. Genis and Colette joined up with Kratos and Lloyd again, deciding it would be safer with them than staying there, dumbfounded.

"Uh, yeah, we can go now." The elf boy said.

The four left the temple, heading down the set of stairs they once traversed hours before. When they were on the last step and nearly exiting the vicinity of the temple, they heard a long, drawn out, hysterical laugh and a shout of "MARVELOUS!" too. They stopped, wondering what was going on; even Kratos was wondering. "What was that?" Lloyd asked out of the blue, nearly jumping out of his skin.

"You're better off not knowing…" Genis told him quickly, ending the conversation as quickly as it came.

Shrugging, they left the chapel's area, now heading back to the village. However, Lloyd had been in deep thought ever since he received the oracle. That angel, Remiel, was his father. His father was an angel! So, who was his mother? As the thoughts traveled through his mind, one thing flashed to reason; the Spirit of Martel. She had spoken to him before, and even mentioned "son", referring to him. Was it possible, the goddess was his mother? But, if that was so, then how come he never saw her when he was younger? Or maybe, his birth mother was human and the goddess was only calling him such because she cared about him? "I…should stop worrying about it…" He mumbled to himself, catching the concerning eyes of Kratos. Lloyd looked up from his muttering, noticing the mercenary was staring at him. His friends were a little farther ahead, he noticed, though they were already in the village's gates anyway.

"…Yes Kratos? What is it?" Lloyd asked, blinking. "Why do you keep staring at me that way?" It was that sad expression the man gave him before. What was up with it?

Kratos chided himself for allowing his emotions to best him even in the slightest again. The boy was perceptive, and could see right through him already. But, he couldn't stop looking at the boy. He mentally pictured his young son, side by side with this Lloyd. Their eyes, their hair, the way they walked, and even that smile; they were a perfect match. The father in him was struggling to break free, to say 'fuck Cruxis, I'm taking my son!' but he wouldn't allow it. This was the _reincarnate_, not the real thing. But, something urged him to press on, to maybe find out more about the teenager. Perhaps it would relax him in knowing about him. "I was merely wondering…" The auburn began, finally answering Lloyd's question.

"Wondering? About what?"

"Where are you from, Lloyd?"

The brunet stopped abruptly, looking at Kratos, then down at the ground. Where was he from? He hadn't a clue, either. One moment he was sleeping in a giant, golden case of things with darkness all around him and the next thing he knew, he was in a forest while the night prowled. It was strange; he was like some mysterious being that existed only for something he didn't know about. "I…I don't know." He answered truthfully. Kratos gave him a skeptical gaze, being patient with the teen, waiting for him to continue, and continue he did. "I…I was found in the forest of Iselia when I was four—" Kratos griped internally. His son was four years old when Martel sent him away. Was it…coincidence? "—and then, some Desians tried attacking me." The auburn growled under his breath, but it went unheard by the brunet.

"Before the Desians could hurt me, another one came to my rescue. He's the leader of them, the ones that keep humans in that ranch. Forcystus."

Now, this was something new. Why would Forcystus save a human child's life? That man was a half-elf grand cardinal that despised humans. Why not throw the child in the ranch with all the others? What made him so special? "Forcystus said that I…couldn't go with him. He took me to the village and demanded them to take me in." The boy closed his eyes, sighing deeply. "Then, they noticed this gem in my hand. They asked if I was…the Chosen…and well…" He paused, wondering why he was telling this man everything. It felt right, he supposed. Something within him was telling him that telling Kratos everything was right. "I was with Frank's family after that."

"They adopted you?"

"Yeah. Then it was strange…after that. I suddenly stopped aging for a few years."

"…Stopped…aging?" Kratos asked, curiosity sparked.

"Yes. I was brought into the family before Colette was born. I didn't grow up like the other kids, and I stayed the same age for three years. So, after Colette was born and three years passed, I was technically seven, but remained four years of age. I started growing up after that…"

Kratos nodded, but then, something didn't add up. Yggdrasil told him that he bred for the new Chosen sixteen years ago. However, from the sound of Lloyd's story, it appeared different than that. If Lloyd was already four by the time he had a Cruxis Crystal in his possession…then…no, this didn't make any sense. Lloyd would be… "How old are you, Lloyd?" He pressed on further. The teenager quizzically glanced up to him, thinking for a moment.

"Well, if you want to count the ageless gap, I would be most likely nineteen now."

Kratos froze. The ages didn't add up to Yggdrasil's math. He told him it was sixteen years ago, but yet, if Lloyd stopped aging—which only _angels_ stopped growing after a certain age—then it had to have been twelve years prior—! "No…" Kratos growled, then looked at the curious Lloyd. Kratos knew he wasn't Remiel's son, but if Lloyd was the reincarnation of his son, then perhaps, he inherited the abilities of the child, as well. Then, that would mean another thing. It was speculation, but he had to know right now. "Lloyd…if you're truly the reincarnation of the Angel Lloyd from the war, then you would most likely have wings." The man stared hard at the teen who was taken aback in shock. He figured the boy was wondering, in the back of his mind, how the mercenary knew. He never shared the information with anyone.

"Wh…How did you?"

"Incarnates naturally share the same abilities of their past lives, it's only speculation." He half lied.

"…But I never told anyone that I had—"

"Show them to me, Lloyd."

The brunet trembled slightly. The auburn was just being curious, he kept telling himself, but every word he spoke felt like he knew Lloyd more than he knew himself. Was this guy becoming obsessive of him? No, that couldn't be. He was merely wondering, that's all! It took everything in his might calm down, closing his eyes. Mana welled up from within his body, giving him that tickling sensation again as he normally felt when pulling his wings out of the mana. Amplified with the Cruxis Crystal, the light bursting from his back was larger scaled than normal, giving the light the shape they needed to be. Kratos' eyes widened as he watched the purely white wings of light shade into the dove-like blue gradient wings, outstretched from behind the boy. He eyed every detail of the wings; they had the same, green shades of gradient within the center, and faded to white at the tips. They even shared the same diamond-like pattern betwixt each layering feather that carefully colored over each other. The auburn immediately went down memory lane, recalling these exact wings, only smaller. He stayed there, staring, almost quivering. The father in him was beginning to grow again, reacting to the sight.

How…How could Yggdrasil do this to him? Make him guard this boy, this Chosen, who was every little thing like his son? Not only that, but condemn him to death at the end of this journey?

"Kr-Kratos?" Lloyd whispered, hoping the man wasn't terrified of this revelation.

"Lloyd…How long have you been hiding them?"

That was an unexpected response. "I've had them since I was about five…I guess. I experienced these weird…pains before they grew, I suppose. But it felt like I knew they were there to begin with. I knew how to draw them back in my body to hide them as soon as they extended from my back. Like… I guess like the Angel Lloyd was telling me how."

Kratos remained silent as his thoughts were calculating and absorbing the information. With a low sigh, he simply nodded. "I see then."

"Please, Kratos. Don't tell anyone. Don't tell them about my wings… And don't tell them…about the end of this journey. I know I'll…die for the goddess, but if it's to regenerate the world, then I'm willing."

The mercenary froze on the spot; the very thought his son's incarnate would die scared him. However, he hid it well and agreed with the teen. "I won't, Lloyd." It was a promising phrase; the teen recognized it and sighed in relief. He withdrew his wings, smiling.

"Thank you, Kratos. Let's…go. I don't want to worry them."

As Lloyd took off towards the village, with the sun still blazing in the sky, Kratos followed along behind him. He was angry at himself for several things; one, he failed to protect Martel, two, he failed to protect and find Lloyd all those years ago, three, he failed to recognize this situation with Yggdrasil, and lastly, he failed to protect _this_ Lloyd from falling into the clutches of Cruxis. He was also angry for allowing the father in him to break free for only a while, but he knew he was curious about the whereabouts of the new Lloyd's upcoming. He sighed deeper, a hand upon his forehead as he walked slower.

_Martel… How can I save this boy, this reincarnation of our son, when he is condemned to die and become your vessel?_

If he would have listened as he walked on, he could have heard an answer in the wind…

_I will protect him, Kratos…He is not alone. He will be with us._

* * *

Galdr: Ah, the end of this chapter. And no, Kratos hasn't figured it out yet, but Yuan will. :D Wow, this chapter is over 9,000 words, too! Awesome sauce! Man, I'm so mean.

Review responses to chapter five!

**Marina Ka-Fai:** Yay, you're back on your account. XD Lol, no worries, mate! I sometimes review stories when I'm not signed in, either. Thanks for liking chapter five, and I hope you like this one, too! Thanks for the review/comment!

**WakaBakaLaka (Guest): ** Ah thanks for your review! Yeah, things are different. I like being different. (I also like torturing Lloyd.) Well, chapter six is here, so I hope you've enjoyed it!

**SailorMint (Guest):** Ah, well chapter six is here, so I hope you enjoyed it, too. Thank-you!

**Kenta Diamond:** Yep. Dirk will get his appearance next chapter, don't worry if you were worrying. As for why Forcystus took Lloyd to the village… hmm, I'll let you ponder on that. But, one thing, if you recall in chapter four, Forcystus had noticed Lloyd's half-elven blood, even though it was diluted. He's very sensitive to other half-elves, as I've read other stories with this indication and everything else. I thought he would be sympathetic to Lloyd as a kinsman, and at the same time, as the Chosen. But who knows? Maybe it'll hit Yggdrasil hard later on. :)

**LeaStar:** Hello! A new reviewer, yay! Thanks for your review! I'm glad you're liking it so far and liking how things are differently portrayed. In fact, I'm glad those who take time to read this are finding it likable. Even if they don't like it, then I'm still glad they bothered _looking_ at it. Yes, Martel's death was very sad indeed. The emotion had to be put into that scene. Yes, Mithos is very cruel, using his own nephew for his scheming plans. Hopefully I portrayed every character correctly or close enough to it.

Thank-you all for your kindly reviews, favorites and stalking—I mean story follows! xD I deeply appreciate it. Also, if you're curious about the famous Kvar scene, it'll still happen, albeit differently. Leave a review if you like! See you next chapter.


	7. The Truth and The Ranch

[What-if] What if Martel was Lloyd's mother? What if he was born a few years before the Kharlan War? What if Lloyd unintentionally became the next Chosen? Tales of Symphonia "what-if", partially follows the game/manga/OVA. [AU]

Ah, chapter 7! I've been giddy to visit it, and hopefully I can pull through it all in one day, in one setting. I'm sure you're all excited for this. Since _I'm_ excited, I'll respond to reviews right now than at the bottom of the chapter. Just for this one time. *says that now and does this again in a later chapter*

**TotatoPomato (Guest):** How did Lloyd stay four years old for 4000 years? He was encased in Martel's mana and hidden in the IseliaForest for that duration. In a way, he was "frozen" in time, but he was still "alive" at the same time. I'm sorry if I didn't explain thoroughly within the chapters, I thought I did, though, only brushed at the surface to let other readers' imagination figure it out before it was actually spoken. Thank-you for your review.

**Marina Ka-Fai:** Thank-you! :D I put a lot of effort into it. Well, the other chapters had the same amount of effort xD

**LeaStar:** Yup! Kratos noticed that Yggdrasil was lying to him, and slowly piecing things together. Awwh, poor Remiel. xD Heh, but he'll die, we all know that. As for Kratos being with Anna; yes. I decided to at least try and get him to start on a new slate, if you know what I mean, just sans Lloyd. I'm glad you like, and I'm glad that I'm portraying the characters as well as you say. Thank-you for your review.

**Ilovebleach27:** Oh my gosh…_someone_ saw that pun! I put it there on purpose for my own humor's sake. You, my good ma'am or sir, deserve a virtual truckload of cupcakes for you spotting it. Lol, good eye! Glad it made you laugh and that you love the story! Thank-you for your comment!

Now that's done, I don't own Tales of Symphonia, etc; you know the gist of it. Man, I almost typed "Tales of Sylvarant" again! *rage* Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

-x-x-x-

The Goddess's Son of Mana

**Chapter 7: The Truth and The Ranch**

-x-x-x-

It was well in the afternoon when Genis and Colette entered the village, with Lloyd and Kratos just behind them. The elf boy and the blonde engaged in conversation with some of the children in the village, telling them what happened in the temple when they asked. It was just like story-telling, earning cheery gasps and exclaims from them. The brunet noticed how happy they looked and reminded himself they should stay like that. The world is better off not knowing what would happen to him should he complete the journey. As long as they remained happy, smiling and peaceful, then that's all that mattered to him. Lloyd was stopped by other villagers, much to Kratos's annoyance, asking him what happened in the temple and trying to ground the poor boy with rapid-fire questions.

Somehow, Lloyd managed to answer each question in moderate detail, leaving out a few things like the oracle being his true father, and obviously his chat with Kratos earlier. When he was finished—in which Kratos half-dragged him away from the villagers—they headed to Colette's and Lloyd's house, the Brunel's. Once entering the two-story house, surrounded in beautiful flowers that were tended to by Phaidra, they were met with Frank, the teens' father. "Lloyd! You're back!" Frank exclaimed ecstatically, hugging his son tight. "Wh-where's Colette?"

"She's outside with Genis, don't worry. I made sure she's here, Dad." Lloyd said, smiling.

"Ah, okay. Thank the goddess…" Frank breathed in relief. His blue eyes caught upon the mercenary he saw before, pleased to see him again. "Thank you Sir Kratos for helping my son, my daughter and Genis. I heard from my mother the details of everything that happened at the temple and you were agreeing on a payment to protect Lloyd while he goes on his journey?"

Kratos nodded. "Yes."

"I see then." Frank pondered momentarily. "My mother came back and went for the mayor to discuss this. They should be arriving soon. In the meantime, Lloyd, why don't you get your things ready? I'll have lunch ready for everyone."

"Okay, Dad." Lloyd smiled brightly, which Kratos caught onto yet again. That smile…His mind instantly flattened an image of Martel's own with the boy's. It still scared him to see the boy incarnate sharing similarities with his dead wife. Thankfully, the brunet turned around to head up the stairs, tearing the image of Martel's mental image within Kratos' mind away. When the teen was upstairs and out of earshot, the mercenary turned to Frank.

"Sir Kratos—" The blond haired man began but the auburn cut him off politely.

"Just Kratos will do."

"All right then, Kratos… Would you like to join us for lunch?"

Despite he couldn't stomach food anymore, turning down food would be dishonorable, especially being at the Chosen's house. But, he really couldn't eat without getting some form of digestion issues, and he needed little nourishment to survive. Angels and their food problems. "I will politely decline the offer."

"Hm? Well, if you're sure. If you change your mind, there'll always be enough."

"Very well, then."

"Have a seat anywhere you like, Kratos. I'm sure Lloyd will be down soon enough. He sometimes likes to take his time, making sure he has everything he needs." Frank laughed lightly, heading into the kitchen. "That boy gets frustrated if he is caught unprepared." The auburn-haired man nodded, sliding a chair from under the table and sitting in it slowly. He kept his arms crossed as he glanced upon the house. The walls were decorated in light blue wallpaper, a flowery pattern at the bottom and dark blue lines vertically lined down in the pattern. Pictures in frames decorated the walls as well, which Kratos studied carefully.

In one picture frame hanging on the wall, there was a young woman, in about her mid-twenties, holding a child in her hands. She had long, mustard blonde hair, blue eyes and wearing a white and red dress. The boy had an equal shade of hair color, being short, and having blue eyes matching the woman's. He wore simple blue overalls and a black and white striped shirt. Kratos recognized the child as Frank when he was younger, and pieced together the young woman was his mother, Phaidra, was it? She seemed very attractive in her younger days, the mercenary had to admit mentally. Still, nothing could compare to the beauty that was his lovely Martel.

The next picture he found was an older Frank, an older Phaidra, and a woman with light brown hair, green eyes, being heavily pregnant. That had to have been Colette's mother, before Colette was born. The last picture he found his eyes upon, was of Frank, Phaidra, a younger Colette and now Lloyd was in the picture, literally. The now older Frank was standing behind his elderly mother, and in front of them was the smaller Colette holding onto Lloyd happily. The boy seemed to have held onto the girl shyly, and he looked like he was trying to smile. Kratos kept studying this picture, his eyes upon the young boy, he nearly froze. He was wearing long-sleeve white shirt, red shorts, white socks and black shoes. The image scared him as he recalled his son, last wearing a white, long-sleeve shirt similar, but only blue shorts, white socks and matching blue shoes.

The next picture, Kratos found himself staring at intently was Lloyd, Colette and Genis, them being at least nine years old, or close to it. They seemed to be eating some cake together, which Kratos began to feel strings of attachment to. Lloyd was eating a chocolate cake in this picture, having a mess upon his face, which reminded the auburn of his Lloyd's first birthday, remembering the joyful moments with his family, here in Iselia.

-x-x-x-

_Kratos watched as his one-year-old son was sitting at a large table outside, Mithos behind him as he volunteered to help his nephew blow out his candle. The toddler had other things in mind, like grabbing everything his little hands could get a hold of. "Wait, Lloyd! We have to blow out the candle!" Mithos said to his nephew, who kept trying to grab at the cake. The boy babbled, still trying to reach, though his uncle kept sliding the cake's plate away from him. Everyone was laughing at the small scene unfolding. _

_The single candle was upon the cake, and Mithos lifted the toddler close to it, but not too close so he wouldn't hurt himself. Instead of the cake itself, Lloyd's eyes settled on his new target; the candle itself. As such, he tried to reach for it, but his blond-haired uncle wouldn't let him. "Lloyd, close your eyes and make a wish!" the pre-teen half-elf giggled. The boy only had his eyes closed for a few seconds, and Mithos helped him blow out the candle positioned on the chocolate cake. The smoke went out and everyone clapped happily, singing out more "Happy Birthday, Lloyd!" in unison. Mithos placed his nephew back in his chair, readily moving the candle out of the brunet's reach. _

_Martel and Mithos exchanged places, the young mother behind her son as she carefully cut into the cake, getting a slice for the boy. As she placed the cake upon the small plate for her son, she smiled warmly. "Lloyd, let Mommy cut it—" She paused as she watched the enthusiastic toddler grab the cake with his hands and stuff it in his mouth. The half-elf woman chuckled, passing the knife and cake down so everyone could get a slice. She whipped out a cloth from nowhere—Kratos deduced—and was ready to wipe the child down for any mess he would most likely make. The boy ate the cake, creating a mess over his face, which was submerged in chocolate matted against his face. _

_In one hand was the cake mashed together, which he was eating from, and took his other hand, smashed into the cake as he grabbed it and tried stuffing that in his mouth as well, saliva drooling and everything. Kratos noticed the expression on his friend's, Yuan's, face; the poor man was grimacing at the sight of his godson's eating habits. "Just watching him eat makes me feel a little ill." The blue-haired half-elf groaned out. Kratos steadied a half-glare in the man's direction as well as a frown. Yuan picked up on it as well as laughter from Mithos, shrugging honestly. "What? I'm only telling the truth. The kid's cute, but when he eats, it just…freaks me out a little." Yuan defended. _

_"Ha-ha-ha-ha! Yuan, it isn't _that_ bad!" Kratos heard Mithos ball out laughing. "At least he isn't drooling over his cake and then putting it back." Unfortunately, Mithos jinxed himself as the little Lloyd had grabbed too much cake, trying to eat it, however, he drooled all over it and tried putting it back on his plate, mashed up and icky. The pre-teen groaned and grumbled at the realization of his nephew's antics. "Ugh, forget I said anything." The blond mumbled. Yuan turned to laugh at Mithos's misfortune now, rolling into a fit of it. Even Kratos was chuckling, watching as Martel was wiping the boy down of his mess._

-x-x-x-

Recalling such the joyous memory, Kratos hadn't noticed he got up and was holding the picture in his hand, staring at it. The nine-year-old Lloyd in the picture had cake upon his face as well, as he was eating with a fork. Colette was smiling and Genis was laughing. The brunet was also in good cheer, being near friends would do that to anyone. He felt he could literally hear their giggles and outcries from the photo, their childish antics and everything. Sighing deeply, he set the picture down, now trying to get his mind off the memory. It was soon disrupted by the aforementioned brunet coming down the stairs; the two noticed each other, locking gazes. Lloyd noticed Kratos had just looked at the picture with him eating his birthday cake at nine years old and lightly smiled.

"That picture is so embarrassing." The teen admitted. "But, I really enjoyed it. It was my first birthday outside the temple."

"Was it, now?" Kratos wondered.

"Yeah. On my birthdays, there would be ceremonies inside the temple, and nobody could come to it. Every year, it was preaching about how Martel was blessing my birthday, allowing me to live and other things." The brown-haired Chosen sighed. "But, when I was nine, I cried to Frank—Dad that I didn't want to go to the temple on my birthday. He asked Lady Phaidra if I could have my birthday with my friends for one time, and she accepted it. So, Genis and Frank baked me a chocolate cake that day, and Colette helped me with some decorations around the huge tree outside." He paused lightly, recalling the memory easily. "I was really happy that day. My friends were with me, and so was my family. Even Dirk, the dwarf that we got to know, came down and enjoyed a share. Chocolate is my favorite."

"I see." Kratos said, smiling internally. _Lloyd's favorite is chocolate, too._ "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed your birthday."

"Thank-you, Kratos, me too." The boy said after, sighing heavily. "Oh yeah, I came downstairs to ask Dad if he could help me with something in my room. Uh, since he's busy, can you help?" Kratos nodded simply, letting the boy lead the way upstairs. The first room they saw obviously belonged to Colette, and the room next to it, was Lloyd's. It was simple; the walls were decorated in chocolate-red wallpaper, decorated with white, diamond-like patterns. His bed was beside the window, which the window was facing a few trees, and allowed the sunlight to enter it slightly. A desk with books was up against the left-hand side of the room, a bookshelf beside it, and a tall dresser next to the bed. His closest was the first thing next to the bedroom's door. Upon the blue carpet on the floor, was a wine-red colored rug. The bed's sheets were light red in color, obviously being Lloyd's favorite color. Upon it was a bag, being opened and having a few things in it.

Kratos memorized everything in the boy's room, watching as he fiddled with the closet's doorknob, trying his hardest not to open it too roughly.

"Sometimes I have to be careful about my strength here. I nearly ripped the door off the hinges one time." Lloyd began telling Kratos, who was patient and quiet. "And another time, I…ran into a tree pretty hard when at recess. The other kids panicked when I was unharmed but the tree was bent slightly. Heh…" The brunet finally managed to get the door to open, softly turning the knob and getting out a treasure-chest looking box. "Anyway, the reason I asked for your help is because…well, I don't know what I should be bringing on this journey, other than necessities." Kratos turned to the boy's opened bag on his bed, noticing only red was in there. Curious, he walked over and saw the boy had packed three of the same outfit as well as a jacket. He looked Lloyd's way, who shrugged.

"Dirk made them for me. They're from my fifteenth birthday. I didn't get a chance to wear them yet. May as well put them to use, yeah?"

Kratos made no comment, just sighed inwardly. "Other than change of clothes, I suspect you should get sheathes for your swords, and necessary items. There isn't much you can bring on this journey."

"Yeah, but I don't like going anywhere unprepared."

Frank was right about the brunet on that one. "Hmm, very well then." He watched the Chosen dig through the chest box some more, grumbling to himself about what he should take and what he shouldn't. He pulled out a notepad and a pencil getting an idea. He set that to the side, rummaging through the chest some more. When he couldn't find anything else to take, the brunet closed the chest box, bringing the notepad and pencil, and a large novel he took out, with him to his bag. "I guess I shouldn't bring a lot…knowing what'll happen in the end." He sighed sadly, and Kratos frowned at the recalling. "But, at least I'll _try_ to enjoy whatever I can throughout it." He placed the small items in the bag, tying it up tightly. It honestly wasn't much though and it was simple. He left the pack on the bed, smiling at Kratos.

"I know I dragged you up here unnecessarily, but thanks for being here with me." He told the mercenary.

Kratos nodded slowly. "It's fine. I don't mind." Indeed he didn't. Just being in the presence of the boy-Chosen and his familiarity of his son's aura was enough for him.

However, a moment later, they both heard Frank's voice; "Lloyd! Kratos! Lunch is done, come on down!" How had the blond knew the mercenary was up here? Ah well.

"Well, there's our call for lunch. I hope its chicken sandwiches."

"…Can you not eat them, though?"

"Hm, oh." Lloyd noticed where Kratos was getting this from; the angel symptoms had taken his eating and tasting senses away, but that was partially gone. "Well, I can eat, just not a whole lot like I used to. And, I can taste a few things. I can stomach sandwiches in the very least. That's why I'm hoping."

"Hm, I see." The auburn seraph mused.

"Yeah. Just hope there aren't any tomatoes in there." The boy grimaced. "I can't stomach those and last time I ate one, I got a bad rash, and had a terrible allergic reaction to it."

Kratos froze again on the boy's explanation of tomatoes. He couldn't eat them either, due to the same thing. He nearly died when eating one the last time he had one himself. Martel had shoved tomatoes out of their eating menus from that point on after he and his son recovered from their illnesses. This Lloyd, the Chosen, also suffered the same symptoms as his son; but it was likely, as he was the reincarnate. But, would they really share all these similarities? It was true that incarnates gained things from their past lives, but this? Kratos was leaning on suspicion, putting clues together, trying to figure out what was wrong with this picture. The sad part was, nothing seemed wrong with it. Despite him figuring out Yggdrasil lied to him about the Chosen, which he brushed aside for now, he couldn't doubt anything else going on.

"Well, let's go Kratos." Lloyd said, interrupting the man's thoughts. The boy headed out the room, almost excitedly, thundering down the stairs. He was scolded by another man's voice, telling him to not run in the house, and the brunet had sighed, telling the man he was sorry. Kratos began making his way out of the room as well, until he spotted an aged, brown box, just sitting in Lloyd's closet. He knew he shouldn't be peeking into the Chosen's privacy, but it sparked his interest. Quickly, he kneeled over and pulled the box out, dusting off the lent and dust that formed upon it. Carefully, and almost daringly, he took the lid off, his heart racing for some reason. Why was he getting so worked up over some box?

However, the immediate reason why was _inside_ the box. Kratos' eyes widened, and his heart stopped, and no breath came. Inside the box, was a long-sleeve white shirt, but it was tattered by age, and a large, tan mark was caked upon it. No doubt, it was old, dried up blood. It seemed the family attempted to wash the shirt to get the stain off, but to no avail. It had left a permanent mark, and so, it seemed they discarded the shirt. Next, were small, torn blue shorts, tattered white socks…and one blue little shoe.

One shoe…

_One_ shoe…

Kratos paled, dropping the box, his heart rejuvenated to beat once again, his breath pounding as his lungs pumped oxygen through them once again. Never before had the mercenary trembled like this. His red eyes only focused on the clothes, and that lone, small blue shoe, that had been worn for wear, ragged and dirty. He couldn't get his mind and eyes off this revelation; the memories and the information laid out before him, in his mind. He played them all like a movie, rewinding and fast-forwarding through his brain to process everything he knew. _No…it couldn't be…_ He replayed in his mind, and yet, here it was. Kratos saw the image of his little boy in these _same_ clothes. He was also in them, with a missing shoe, when he was unconscious, before his mother sent him away.

If this Lloyd was here in Iselia, and he was found in the forest then… then…

"Noishe…was right." Kratos mumbled out, terrified. He found himself in tears, which he thought he couldn't shed anymore. "Noishe…he kept leading us to the forest. Every. Damn. Time." He cursed. Anger was fueling inside his heart, rage was building, but at the same time, a twinge of comfort entered.

_"Kratos…Please…take care of Lloyd…"_

He heard his wife's voice over and over in his head centuries before. Repeating them, telling him their son was all right, but after one thousand years passing, the man had lost all hope of ever finding the child. That, he was long since dead; after all he lacked a Cruxis Crystal to survive as long as he, Yuan and Mithos did. It was true, he was half-angel, but that wouldn't have stopped the boy from aging. But, damn it! All the clues he heard, even Yggdrasil gave him one, everything he had seen, and Lloyd's bright smile, reminding him of Martel, it was all there, right in his face! Why didn't he see it before? Yggdrasil knew this would happen. He knew Kratos would eventually find out this 'new' Lloyd was in fact _his_ baby boy! Kratos lowered his head, allowing the tears to fall upon the old aged clothes. "Lloyd…I…found you…I…" He began but had to stop.

He realized he was condemning his son to die for his mother!

"Damn it…Damn it." Kratos snarled to himself. If he betrayed Cruxis again, Lloyd would most likely suffer. Yggdrasil knew the boy was half-angel, and could easily remove the crystal's crest. It would make him mindless on the spot, and thus, the boy's body would be already ready to harbor his mother's soul. It was that simple, so why make him go through the trials if he already experienced the angel symptoms? Something wasn't right here, and Kratos was going to find out. Very quickly. And when he did, he was going to cut his son's ties away from Cruxis, forever. "Martel, I swear, I will save him." He closed his eyes, determined.

He put the clothes back into the box, putting the lid over it, and put the box back where he had seen it. He walked out of the room, his mind set with what he needed to do. The image of Martel being stabbed replayed in his mind, watching as her blood splattered upon Lloyd's shirt in the same spot upon the one had found. He narrowed his eyes at someone in particular, despite he was not here at the moment.

It was safe to say, Kratos was deadly pissed off, a bomb that would go off the instant it was touched.

-x-x-x-

Coming down the stairs, he was greeted by the eyes of Phaidra, Frank, a plate full of chicken sandwiches, Lloyd eating one of them, and a man with graying black hair. They were all sitting at the table, having a light discussion. Frank was the first to notice Kratos coming down; however, Lloyd was the first to _hear_ him coming. Of course, his mouth was full, so he only looked up when the mercenary approached them. "Kratos, there you are. Come have a seat." Frank motioned for him to sit. By now, the man had to seduce his anger from boiling up, suppress it as much as he could. His auburn eyes fell upon Lloyd, who he now realized _was_ his long-lost son.

"We were just about to discuss your payment for protecting Lloyd on his journey—"

"It's unnecessary now." Kratos replied straightforward, staring at the blond-haired man that had raised his son. He was grateful such a kind person existed in this village.

"Wait…what?" Frank blinked, confused.

"I will protect the Chosen—" He scolded at himself for addressing his son in such a title, but he had to, "—without payment."

"But, we couldn't…" Phaidra began, but the mercenary glanced her way. Lloyd was even confused by his actions. What made him change his mind?

"It's fine. I will get payment from somewhere else. Right now, the Chosen's protection is priority, not money." His eyes locked firmly onto those pale-gold and brown mixed ones of the brunet's. He finished his sandwich, and appeared to be full.

"Kratos? Are you sure? Lloyd is pretty much a handful." Frank said, frowning. "I don't want him to be a burden to you."

"Me too." Lloyd agreed, even though he was talking about himself. "I mean, it's not right you have to look after me for nothing. You should at least take the payment."

_Being paid to watch my own child is nothing I would want._ Kratos thought, but still declined the offer. "I've had a change of heart and concluded to escort and guard him without pay. Let it be…a gift of the goddess then." The family and the mayor of Iselia exchanged glances with another. They couldn't bargain with this man at all; he seemed dead serious about his decision. "The Chosen's safety is no burden to me at all."

"Well, if you're sure. But at least take our offer for traveling funds instead. You're going to need it." Frank said.

"Dad…"

"Lloyd, you're going to need all the help you can get. If this is how we, your family, can help you, then we'll do it. We only want the best for you."

_The best for me, huh? I'd want to help save the world without making sacrifices._ Lloyd thought to himself, blinking his tears away. He couldn't cry in front of them. They were already doing so much for him as it was. They took him in when they didn't have to, fed him, and clothed him. The blond saw the expression his adopted son, walking over and hugged him tightly again. "Lloyd, it's all right to cry. Just be strong for us, for yourself, okay?"

Lloyd, sniffling, rubbed a few tears from his eyes, smiling warmly. "Yeah, I will, Dad."

"So…is it decided that Sir Kratos will protect the Chosen?" the mayor asked. Lloyd and Frank broke off their embrace, the brunet returning to his chair slowly.

"Hm, I'd feel comfortable if Raine went with them." Phaidra added. Kratos raised an eyebrow at the elderly woman, wondering silently who this Raine person was, however it suddenly hit him; that woman with silver-hair at the temple they met not long ago. She appeared to be a healer and a teacher, so that would make things a bit easier.

"I have no objections." Kratos said.

"Good, then we'll leave the protection of the Chosen to Sir Kratos and Raine." The mayor said, pausing as the front door swung open. Stepping inside was Colette and Genis, both curious as to what everyone was talking about, although they heard Kratos's and Raine's names pull up and something about protecting Lloyd. All eyes turned to the two children who came in.

"I'm home." Colette announced happily. Lloyd smiled at her, or tried to force one, as he saw his friends. His heart relaxed at the sight of them.

"Welcome home, Colette." Frank, Phaidra and Lloyd said in unison. "Hey Genis." Lloyd said after, recognizing the elf boy. He smiled when his name was called, waving to Lloyd.

"Ah, thank you." She said. "But, what's everyone doing here? Were you all discussing the journey of the world regeneration?"

"Yes," Colette's grandmother answered. The boy elf and blonde haired girl exchanged hopeful glances with one another, smiling wide.

"Wow! Can I go, too? I want to see Lloyd regenerate the world!" Colette piped up, Genis excited as well.

"If my sister's going, I want to go, too!"

Kratos, knowing these two were Lloyd's closest friends, would likely get hurt emotionally when the end drew near. He didn't want them to see what would happen to their friend when he unlocked the final seal—even though Kratos himself would prevent his son from doing so. The mercenary glanced their way, frowning as his arms crossed. "No." He told them, more-so at Genis. "You'll get in the way…" Genis and Colette frowned. "I would rather you both stay here where its safe." He added softly and in concern as well.

"W…What?" Genis gaped, angered.

"The battles at the chapel are nothing in comparison to the journey that awaits us," Kratos continued, closing his eyes. "You children should stay here." Colette sadly looked down, her hopes of seeing her brother leave on his journey crushed. She desperately wanted to go and knew Genis wanted to as well. They were all friends, very close, too! Why couldn't they? They would be helpful, not in the way!

The mayor nodded in agreement with the mercenary's words. "Kratos is absolutely right. Now then, we still have things to discuss. You should go home now, Genis." The elf boy sighed in defeat, half stormed out of the house. The blond watched him go and followed him outside, sympathizing. Lloyd's face burned worry as he glanced at them leaving before getting up from his seat and following them outside. The mayor looked up to notice the brunet now ushering himself out. "Chosen, where are you going? You need to be here for this."

"My friends need me right now." The boy said, hand on the doorknob.

"They'll be fine without you. Now sit down so we can finish discussing matters at hand."

"I don't need you to tell me what I should and shouldn't do." Lloyd said, his eyes narrowing dangerously at the mayor. "Right now, my friends come first."

"Your _journey_ is more important than them!" the man snapped.

Lloyd chose to ignore him, walking outside the house with a calm, collected face. Kratos watched him handle his own self in the light argument. The boy certainly didn't allow others to boss him around.

-x-x-x-

"Ugh, I can't believe that we can't go." Genis grumbled under his breath, kicking a rock randomly.

"I know…I wanted to go really badly." Colette sympathized. The girl volunteered to walk with Genis to his house. Before they got any further away, the front door opened up and out stepped Lloyd.

"Hey, wait…" He called to them, hurrying to their side. "I'm sorry…" He apologized.

"What are you apologizing for, Lloyd? You didn't do anything." Colette said, smiling lightly.

"Yeah but…I feel like it's my fault that you two can't go." He frowned.

Genis shook his head, chuckling. "Lloyd, it's not your fault. So don't apologize, okay?"

The brunet glanced to his friends, nodding. "Right…Sorry anyway." The elf boy sighed lowly, though chose to ignore his friend's constant apologies.

"Well, while you're here, Lloyd, want to come to my house for a bit?" He looked at Colette with a grin, the girl understanding.

"Huh, sure." The brown-haired Chosen agreed.

"I'll go with!" the chirpy blond replied.

Genis smiled and waved for them to follow him. They walked side by side like merry men—and women—that had a fine day out. Heading straight for the schoolhouse from Colette's and Lloyd's house, they turned down the farthest left path, bypassing a villager who was out sweeping fallen leaves and rocks from the path to his house. They gave him a call, the man waving to the three teens as they passed by. Two minutes passed and they ended up upon a small step way that lead up towards a house situated on a small cliff. They went inside the house, closing the door behind him.

"Okay Lloyd…" Genis smirked and Colette grinned happily. "Here you go! Happy birthday!" The elf boy and girl said simultaneously as the mage opened the pantry, revealing a delicious piece of chocolate cake, readied with a fork. The brunet's eyes lit up, smiling.

"Wow! Thanks, Genis, Colette!" Lloyd exclaimed happily, taking it. The elf boy took out two more slices, giving one to Colette and the other for himself.

"You're welcome, Lloyd. Colette helped me make it. She had the exact recipe for your favorite kind of cake." Genis said, crediting the blonde beside them. She giggled and blushed in embarrassment, but nodded. "Come on, let's eat this outside where the weather's good!" The other two agreed, exiting the Sage's house, cake slices and forks ready to chow down. They found a comfortable spot near the small pond near the house, sitting beside it in a circle of each other.

"Thank you…the both of you, truly. I'm glad you remembered today was my birthday." Lloyd said, a few tears rolling down his eyes. "Nobody…else seems to remember today is my birthday. Only…ceremonies and rituals…"

"Lloyd…" Colette said, her blue eyes upon the brunet. She had never seen her brother so sad and happy at the same time.

"We're your friends, Lloyd. Of course we're going to remember." Genis added, grinning. "Don't look so sad!"

"I'm not sad. I'm really happy." The brunet admitted, rubbing his eyes with the back of his left hand.

"Oh, well, let's eat! This cake won't eat itself!"

"Y-yeah." Lloyd laughed, still having that wonderful smile on his face. The friends all carved into the cake at the same time, taking their first bite at the same time, and moaned in glee at the delicious taste and flavor it held. The brunet enjoyed every moment of this; it would surely be his last time ever having chocolate cake and sitting side by side with his best friends on a peaceful day, together. That's all the boy ever wanted, just to be by his friends. Was it too much to ask for?

-x-x-x-

After the teens finished their cakes, the mid-afternoon rolling by, Genis went inside to grab some cookies in a bag, and they headed out again into the village. However, Lloyd, the birthday boy, wanted to take care of something first. "Listen, Genis, Colette. I'm going to Dirk's house so he can make me some sheathes for these swords." The Chosen pointed to loosely opened blades.

"Oh, sure thing, Lloyd. Do you want us to come with you?"

"If you want, I'm not going to force you."

"Hm, I actually have somewhere to be, too." Genis said. "In the forest, I mean."

"Okay, I'll go with you then, Genis, if you don't mind, Lloyd?"

The brunet shook his head. "I don't mind. I'll meet up with you guys later." He told his friends. They began making their way to the exit of the village when the guards spotted them first, making them stop momentarily.

"Hey, you three. Where are you going?" one asked.

"We're going to Dirk's." Lloyd replied.

"Ah, I see, then. Sorry, Chosen." The first apologized.

"It's all right, you mean no harm."

"Say, you three know about the ranch on the way to Dirk's?" the second guard asked them, the three nodded in response. "Well, you haven't been playing around there lately, have you?" Colette and Lloyd looked at one another, shaking their heads.

"No, of course not." Lloyd said.

"We know about the treaty that's in place. We wouldn't go there, right Genis?" Colette asked, her blue eyes finding the boy mage's own.

"Y-yeah, o-of course not." The silver-haired boy stammered out urgently in agreement. "We know better…"

"Okay then. Just stay away from the ranch, got it?" the second guard said, letting the children leave the village. "You be careful, now."

"We will thank-you." Lloyd called out from over his shoulder. When they were far out of sight and heading into the IselianForest, Genis let out a comfortable sigh. Just the mentioning of the ranches got his spine chilled. The children stayed on the simple path ahead, somewhat avoiding monsters but when they couldn't along the way, they were struck down easily by their combined power. Ten minutes passed when the friends found themselves at the halfway point of the forest, coming to a 'T' intersection. One way lead towards Dirk's house, the east path lead to the human ranch they were forbidden to go to, and the southern path, which they had taken, lead back to Iselia. Lloyd frowned, remembering this place barely. He came here alone sometimes when going to Dirk's, but this place was where he had been found by the Desians. Their leader of the ranch, Forcystus, had saved him from a Desian's attack despite being one too.

He spared his life and the village's leaving him in the care of Iselia. He didn't have to, but the half-elf man seemed determined about it. What were that man's intentions, anyway? Discarding the memory, Genis headed in the eastward direction, surprising both Colette and Lloyd. "Well, here's my stop." The elf boy said, plainly.

"Wait, at the ranch?" Colette blinked. "Are we not supposed to go there?"

"Yeah, but they broke the treaty first." Genis defended himself rather weakly, but his friends knew it was true regardless. The two adopted siblings exchanged glances for a brief moment before the Chosen himself sighed.

"Genis, I don't know what you're going to do here, but I can't let you go alone."

"I'll go with you, too." Colette added.

The boy mage blinked, looking at his friends with a surprised expression. "But, you'll get in trouble…I don't want you guys to get in trouble because of this."

"Then, we'll all get in trouble together." Lloyd tried to justify. "What _are_ you going to do here, anyway?"

"Well, the cookies I grabbed from my house, I baked them for a friend of mine. She's at the ranch… She hardly gets any food, so I sneak some in when I can. And, I have to tell her about the oracle, too."

"I see…That's really nice of you, Genis. Even if you're risking yourself." Colette said, smiling.

"Y-yeah. Well…we uh…s-should go, huh?"

The other two nodded, carefully walking down the east path that led to the intimidating structure known as the Iselia human ranch. It sounded like a factory, but only a factory where humans are taken and enslaved with harsh labor. They ducked down as low as possible to sneak around a few Desian guards, using the bushes as cover. They also had to crawl and sidle upside the metal building to avoid further detection. When it was safe, they looked up, watching through the wired gate. Men in red and armor with whips cracked them at humans, forcing them to push giant rocks forward. A few of the humans were out of breath, but the Desians shouted loudly at them to continue with a threat.

"Keep moving, you pathetic human trash!" One Desian roared.

A young woman panted, stopping suddenly. She was out of breath, out of energy, and couldn't go on anymore. Another Desian spotted her, growling under his breath. "Wench! Get back in line!" He shouted, cracking his whip at her back painfully. She screamed in agony, falling to the ground, tears falling out of her eyes. Seeing this as an act of defiance, more Desians rounded up on her, scowling. "Did you not hear the command, wench? I suppose we'll have to teach you a lesson!" With this, they dragged her away by her hair, the woman yelling for someone to help her, but it was all for nothing. Silently, the children shuddered at the sight of such brutality.

"…This is…I can't believe this…" Colette gasped, light tears rolling down her face.

"Yeah. It makes me angry…seeing the Desians do this." Genis growled under his breath. "Desians are half-elves, right?"

The blonde nodded. "Yes, they are. They're…very mean and bad people, apparently. I don't know why they do this to other people. It's not right." She looked at Genis who had a rather sorrowful expression upon his face.

"Yeah, I mean, I don't know why they do this, either."

"I don't think all half-elves are Desians." Lloyd spoke up quietly, garnering the attention of his two friends. "I mean, the ones that hurt others for no reason are bad in my eyes, and those are the ones I have to stop when I go on my journey."

"Yeah…" Genis added softly, feeling slightly better. In the moment of this, his eyes found an old woman, with graying hair tied in a ponytail, dressed in a ragged dress. She was looking off to the side, watching the atrocity befall her humankind. She closed her eyes, saying a small prayer, and had her back to the children behind the wired fence. "Hey, there she is. Marble!" Genis called out, hopefully she was the only one who heard. The old woman heard her name, and noticed the three teens.

"Genis…?" She wondered, approaching the gate, seeing him clearly. "Oh, it is you." She smiled warmly.

"Marble, here." The elf boy said, handing the cookies quickly through the gate for the old woman to take. "I baked them just for you."

"Ah, thank-you ever so much, Genis." Marble smiled again, taking the cookies and hiding them under her dress as much as she could. "Are these your friends, Genis?"

"Yeah. This is Colette and Lloyd." He introduced, smiling. Colette said her hello as did Lloyd, then Genis continued. "Hey, Marble, did you see the oracle? The Tower of Salvation appeared and everything!"

"I saw it, yes. Now, the Chosen can finally go on his journey and restore peace to the world. I just hope the Chosen will succeed this time…" Marble said, her hands clasped together in hope. Colette smiled now, looking at the old woman then to Lloyd. "The last Chosen failed, right…?" The girl asked, now curious. Marble nodded to her question, sighing sadly.

"Yes…The last Chosen was killed by Desians…" The three gave worried exchanges to each other, the younger two more worried about Lloyd now. Would he be all right on his journey? Would Kratos and Raine keep him safe? Regardless of their thoughts, the brunet turned to the older woman.

"Ma'am, I'll be sure to complete my journey and save you and everyone else that suffers." The brunet said with a determined grin. He got her attention, her eyes wide.

"Y-you're the Chosen, young man?"

"I am." He nodded, pointing to the Cruxis Crystal that was around the base of his neck. He only buttoned up to the second button after receiving the oracle earlier, letting his neck expose only slightly. He wanted to keep it covered up just in case any Desians showed up. Marble gasped in delight and shed a few tears of joy. "O…Oh my. I hadn't know the Chosen himself would come here and grace me with his presence. Oh, I've been blessed with such a miracle." Lloyd, Genis and Colette smiled, looking to each other, and sympathized with Marble. She had every right to know. However, one thing caught Lloyd's attention; a red jewel was situated on the old woman's right hand, and he recognized it right away.

"Marble, ma'am, on the back of your hand, that's an Exsphere." Lloyd pointed out.

"Hm? Oh is that what this is called?" She wondered curiously, earning a nod from the brunet. "They put this on me when I first came here. Ever since then, I've been feeling very differently…"

"I see, and it doesn't have a Key Crest, either…" Lloyd observed. The others looked at him quizzically, prompting the red-clad boy to continue. "Attaching an Exsphere directly onto the skin supposedly makes you sick. Ironically enough, it's absolutely useless unless you attach it directly _onto_ the skin." He explained as carefully as he could. "In order to prevent it from making you sick, you have to carve a spell into a special ore and use that as a mount for the Exsphere; that's what's called the Key Crest."

"Oh, you're so knowledgeable, Chosen…" Marble smiled.

"Hm, it doesn't look like Marble has one of those mounts." Colette said as she looked closer at the old woman's hand. Lloyd took a glance for himself, nodding.

"Yeah, she doesn't have one, it seems." The brunet frowned slightly. "I could probably carve one myself. But there's nothing I can do without the inhibitor ore that acts as the mount…"

"Wait, so it's bad if it stays like that on her without a crest?" Colette asked, worried.

"Isn't there something you can do, Lloyd?" Genis asked next.

"It's not as easy as it seems. Making Key Crests is dwarven technology, though." Lloyd began, "I'm sure Dirk would help with this. I know I learned a little about it from him during my visits, so it should be okay."

"Thanks Lloyd, you're the best!" Genis chirped happily.

"I hope Dirk will make one." Colette added, smiling. The brunet nodded to his friends, seeing Marble's expression of gratitude.

"Oh, Chosen. Thank-you for caring about this old woman. I hope I live to see the day you regenerate the world."

"Don't worry Marble. I'll do everything in my power to complete the journey. Just hang on a little longer."

The woman nodded. "I'll hold on as long as I can…"

"Hey, old hag! What the hell are you doing over there?!" Uh-oh, it was a Desian's voice! Marble and the children gasped in surprise, the three ducking down to avoid being seen. The elder lady turned to them, worried for them. "Hurry, you three, run off before they see you." She said urgently.

"But Marble…" Genis protested.

"What about you?" Colette added, frowning.

"I-I'll be fine," it was a lie, "Just please, hurry, get away while you can! Please!" Her old eyes stared at Lloyd, hopeful. "Please Chosen, please…" The brunet growled in fury, closing his eyes. He couldn't let this nice old lady suffer. He was right here, right in front of her. He should just demand the Grand Cardinal to release the prisoners, every single one of them, if he was the Chosen. He had that power, didn't he? He could save himself but couldn't do a thing for these people? What kind of Chosen was he?! "I…I…" Lloyd breathed out, unable to leave. "Marble…"

"Go!" She urged her voice hesitant as the Desians were growing closer. "…Please go!"

"…"

The three reluctantly dived behind a bush, their breaths held as they listened, or in Lloyd's case, secretly watched, as the Desians rounded up on Marble, angry. "Hey you, who told you could slack off?!"

"…I…I'm sorry…" Marble apologized sincerely.

"Hmph! I don't like your tone of voice or your attitude!"

"…W-what ever do you mean? I…" Marble wondered, looking sorrowful.

"Hey, take this old lady to the back and teach her lesson about respect!" One of the Desians snarled, two of them grabbed Marble roughly by her arms, dragging her around the back of the facility. They all cleared out from that small area, gathering the rest of the humans and forcing them to watch as whips cracked against flesh, and an old woman's cry rang out. Once they were gone, the three teens stood up from their hiding spot, overhearing the cracking of the whips, and more importantly, hearing a person's shallow cry with it. The silver-haired elf mage turned to his friends, his heart thudding against his chest in fear for the worse. "…W-we have to see what they're doing to Marble!"

"But, how?" Colette wondered.

"We'll need to get to higher ground to see." Lloyd said. At times like this, he wished he could use his wings and fly up. However, with his friends here, he couldn't do that. He trusted them, yes, but with the knowledge of his previous pains and the knowledge of the angel wings, he wasn't sure if they would be able to believe it with their own eyes. They left their hiding spot, coming around to the front of the ranch's facility. Colette soon spotted a climbable cliff, pointing to it. "Look, there's a cliff here! Wouldn't that be high enough?" The two boys noticed where she was pointing at and agreed.

"Yeah, that should be high enough." Lloyd said. "Let's go."

With help from the Chosen, Genis and Colette climbed up the cliff to its highest point, with Lloyd standing with them. They peeked over carefully, remaining hidden, but saw everything. The prisoners watched, horrified as two Desians cracked whips at Marble's back, while two others were holding her down. The woman cried out as each wave of pain lashed against her tattered, old back, stinging like fire. Genis, Colette and Lloyd looked on, cringing every time the whip lashed. "She's…" the boy mage gasped, unable to finish.

"I-I can't believe this…!" Colette breathed out, covering her mouth with her hands.

Both turned to their Chosen friend, worried. "Lloyd, we _have_ to do something! We can't let them do this!" Genis urged, his eyebrows furrowing in rage. Lloyd glanced at the old woman, her pained cries reaching his sensitive hearing. He couldn't take it anymore; if it risked him getting caught by saving Marble, then so be it.

"We are. Genis, use your magic from here, use Fire Ball and hit them from here." He then turned Colette, "Colette, use Ray Thrust and combine it with Genis' Fire Ball. Aim it at the Desians backs."

The younger two nodded to each other. "What will you do, Lloyd?" the blond-haired girl asked.

"I'll distract them so you two can get away safely."

"But, they'll see your face." Genis objected.

"It's okay. I'll make sure they don't see my face." The brunet assured them.

"…A-All right then." Genis and Colette gave in, taking out their kendama and chakrams respectively. They hid behind a rock upon the small plateau of the cliff; Genis began chanting silently his incantation, gathering mana while Colette focused on her targets. There were two Desians hitting Marble, and those were the ones she needed to hit. Lloyd concentrated on the metal pillars of the ranch, coordinating where he would land so the half-elf brutes would notice him jumping from the top, preventing them from seeing his two friends. Genis nodded to Colette, having assumed the mana he needed for the spell. The girl responded with a nod of her own, silently moving as she reared her chakrams back.

"**Flaming Thrust**!" the two chimed together, Colette chucking the bladed discs while the fire magic enveloped them. The chakrams spun, one cutting into a Desian's backside and the second spun, cutting the other in the leg. The two roared in pain as fire licked their bones the same time the chakrams connected. The spinning discs returned to their recipient, prompting Lloyd to make his move. The brown-haired Chosen jumped upon the top portion of the ranch, garnering attention of the Desians inside. "There he is! Get him!" They shouted in unison, the gates opening. Lloyd barely glanced back to see Genis and Colette helping one another down the cliff carefully and silently, then turned to keep the Desians busy. He had to make sure they escaped or at least, got out of sight. The red-clad swordsman landed to his feet, keeping his back turned. The half-elves were running around the corner, whips in hand, growling about an intruder.

Colette and Genis made it down the cliff safely and began tip-toeing around a bush, watching the Desians' movements, and being careful to not make a sound as to not get seen. Unfortunately, Genis tripped over his feet, falling down and Colette collided and tripped over him as well. "Owww!" they both cried out, alerting the Desian guards. Lloyd, with his enhanced hearing, hissed under his breath as he charged at the guards, swords drawn to steer their attention on him. "I think your fight is with me." The Chosen called out to the half-elf soldiers. They spun around, noticing the brunet and scowled.

"Damn human bastard!" One shouted.

"We'll teach you not to mess with us!" the second roared.

Lloyd simply raised his swords challengingly, waiting for them to take the bait. The soldiers growled, charging at the brown-haired teen, obviously biting the bait. Lloyd frowned, dodging to the left as one cracked his whip at him. He evaded to the right when the other attempted to hit, and was met with a punch from the teenager. Having recovered from their stumble, Genis and Colette watched as Lloyd fought off the Desians that spotted him, worried. How could they help him? He was outnumbered. However, they saw the growing fury in the brunet's eyes; he locked gazes with them in the mere seconds he could gather, telling them to "get out of here!" with his expression. The two understood, running off before they could be spotted. "Your days are numbered, inferior being!" one of the Desians barked, continuing to slam his whip at Lloyd.

The Chosen simply deflected the whip lash with one of his blades, slashing horizontally with the other. The half-elf groaned and fell dead, landing to the ground with a crash. The second Desian growled, narrowing his eyes at the human scum before him. "Damn inferior being! You'll pay for that!" He roared, lunging forward. However, it was in vain, as Lloyd spun rhythmically, his own irises burning hatred into the half-elf's.

"You picked the wrong guy to mess with." Lloyd spat icily, swinging his second sword towards the soldier. The Desian had no chance as his chest was slashed like his cohorts; he fell as he hollered in agonizing pain, right next to his dead comrade. Finished with this, Lloyd heard siren alerts and more guards shouting. This wasn't good. "I have to get out of here." He mumbled, rushing off towards the cliff, not thinking. He jumped, flipping acrobatically as he landed upon one cliff's edge and then kicked off to jump down further. The sheer height of it all prompted Lloyd to use his wings, but his eyes found the running forms of Genis and Colette—that'd have been a terrible move. With all his might as he neared the ground, the brunet ducked and rolled as he landed, making sure to keep his swords far out as to not hurt himself.

"L-Lloyd!" Genis called out as he saw him first.

"Are you okay?" came Colette's voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The Chosen replied. "Are you two okay? You both took quite a fall, if I recall hearing…"

"Y-yeah, that was my fault." The elven boy admitted. "I'm sorry Lloyd…They saw your face and it's my fault."

"Don't worry about it, Genis. I killed the ones who saw me, so there's no way they'd be able to tell." Lloyd assured them, smiling. "The rest are up on the cliff anyway. You two should get home though… There's enough damage done and you two shouldn't be involved in it anymore than you already are."

His adopted sister blinked. "But, what about you?"

"I'll be home before dark, Colette. Tell Dad, okay? I'm just going to get Dirk to make me some sheathes, and that Key Crest for Marble."

"A…all right…" She relented.

"You two stay together on your way back."

"We will. And hey, Lloyd. Thank-you."

"No problem, Genis. You just owe me some homework, if you don't mind?"

The boy mage shook his head, smiling lightly. "I don't mind, Lloyd. Well, we'll see you later. Be careful!" The two waved him off, Lloyd remaining behind as he watched his friends leave the forest. When they were out of sight, and out of his ear-shot, he quickly traversed through the forest again, keeping the hilts of his swords gripped tightly. For sure, the ranch would be on security lock-down or something like that, but the whole risk was worth it. Treading carefully when he reached the 'T' intersection again, the red-clad teen hurried off, making sure he wasn't seen by anyone. However, deep down, he felt bad; he felt he betrayed Forcystus' trust in him, the man who spared his life as a child.

"…All I wanted to do was help…" Lloyd reminded himself as he made it to the exit of the Iselian forest. Dirk's house wasn't far from here.

However, upon the top of the cliff, stood a man with short, aquamarine hair, a scowling expression on his face. His eyes narrowed as he stared down the edge, which had been more than a hundred foot drop. Desians stood around him, waiting for anything the man to say. "Analyze the data from the surveillance cameras." He ordered. The soldiers saluted, hurrying back inside the ranch as other soldiers ushered the human prisoners back into their cells. The half-elf Grand Cardinal tapped his foot impatiently, closing his eyes. "How could a mere human jump from this height? It makes no sense." He muttered to himself. Forcystus stood by his lonesome, absorbing the mana he felt around the area, still fresh from several minutes ago.

He caught the mana "scent" of three people. One was a human's, another was a fellow half-elf's, and the other was a familiar, diluted pulse of a half-elf descent. He only knew one person with this mana and frowned deeply. "…Lloyd…You stupid child… I told you to stay away from the ranch." Forcystus murmured to himself, glaring angrily at nothing in particular. The boy violated the treaty, and yet, he was someone the grand cardinal couldn't touch. He was the Chosen, and a fellow half-elf. He would never harm anyone of his kind, let alone someone in Yggdrasil's plan. His men would want to seek vengeance however, and that was something he wouldn't ignore, either. Being involved in this in more ways than normal was frustrating the half-elf man.

"This is what happens when you slightly babysit a boy… Forcystus, you're stuck in a tight spot…" He growled to himself, face-palming. How _would_ he do this without harming Yggdrasil's precious Chosen? He would be summoned and killed if he even tried to lay harm upon or try to attack the brunet his head lord needed. This was becoming quite the complicated mess and a chore.

-x-x-x-

By the time the two friends made it to Iselia, the early night was rolling in. Unfortunately, they were met with two familiar faces. "Where is the Chosen?" Kratos asked as Genis and Colette entered the village, both panting from running. They were surprised to see the mercenary appearing from nowhere, and now Raine was with him. The two children paled lightly, looking down. Kratos half-glared at them, but remained stern. He couldn't get upset at his son's friends, or else he'd break whatever trust he had with him. He needed the boy's trust, if anything else. But if _anything_ happened to his child, he would surely run insane. "Lloyd went to see Dirk to make him sheathes for his swords." Colette said through her labored breath, making Kratos sigh internally. At least the brunet was safe. "W-we ran back here though because…well…"

"What happened? Why were you running, anyway?" Raine asked, her blue eyes hardening on them.

"…Uh…you see, we had a run-in with…the D-Desians…" Genis admitted, gulping. The silver-haired woman's eyes widened when her brother spoke those words, scowling afterwards.

"What? You went near the ranch?! You knew about the treaty—"

"B-but they broke it first!" Genis defended. "They tried to kill Lloyd at the temple earlier!"

"What?" Raine pressed.

"It's true, Professor. They came at the temple earlier, and then tried to kill Lloyd and us. S-so it's not—" Colette began but was interrupted.

"You two know better!" The woman snapped, frowning. "I can't seem to fathom why you would want to go near the ranch."

"Well, I-I had a friend there." Genis started. "I wanted to tell her about the oracle, and that the Tower of Salvation appeared. I just…she was trapped in there, Raine. I needed to tell her because it was her hope. I couldn't let her down… I-I'm sorry, Raine."

"Genis…" Colette frowned.

"Lloyd and Colette came with me. And, it's my fault that they saw his face. Even though he beat them, I'm still worried. I-it's all my fault…"

The blond shook her head, placing her hand on the smaller boy's shoulder. "Genis, we're all at fault. Not only that but Lloyd risked his own self to help out, too. We're in this together, okay?" The elven boy looked up from his sorrow, still frowning, but tried to keep his composure.

"Yeah…you're…right, Colette."

The professor shook her head, sighing heavily. "…Fine, I see now. But you three knew better, especially Lloyd. The village went through so much trouble to protect him with a treaty and now…he endangered not only himself but Iselia…"

"It cannot be helped." Kratos stated. "Let's check on the Chosen and bring him home safely."

"Right, we can at least do that." Raine added. "Come on, you two. Let's go."

-x-x-x-

"Dirk?" Lloyd called out.

"Aye, come in, boy." The dwarf said from inside, allowing the teen to come inside. Lloyd opened the door and went inside, smiling lightly. The dwarf was busily working on hammering away on metal, most likely making a weapon from a request. "Ah, Lloyd. What can I do fer ya, boy?"

"Dirk, uh, I was wondering if you can make me two sheathes for these swords here." The brunet nodded to the pair of blades he was holding. "If that isn't too much to ask."

"No, it's not. I'll make it tonight and it'll be ready for you tomorrow mornin'." The dwarven man said, grinning. "So, I be seein' that ya received the oracle today?"

Lloyd nodded. "Yeah. I'll be starting my journey soon, probably around tomorrow morning, ironically enough. I want to be prepared for it." Dirk understood, preparing iron to start on the sheathes the teen needed. "Also, another thing, if it isn't too much to ask for…"

"Hm? What'cha be needin'?" Dirk looked at him questionably as the teen spoke.

"Could you make me a Key Crest?"

"Eh? Why ya be needin' one so suddenly, boy?" Dirk asked.

"I met someone today who has an Exsphere without a Key Crest." Lloyd explained, hoping to avoid exposing his dangerous attempt at the ranch earlier. "An Exsphere without a Key Crest is bad for you, isn't it?" The brunet paused, coming to a sudden realization of fear. "Or…don't tell me that it's too late once you've attached an Exsphere without a Key Crest to your body…?"

The dwarf man shook his head, chuckling lightly. "Nah, not at all, Lloyd." He said, turning from his work. "However, removing a Key Crestless Exsphere is dangerous. The only thing you can do is make an accessory out of an inhibitor ore and carve the charm into that, making it into a Key Crest instead." Lloyd nodded, smiling. There was hope for Marble after all. Now, if he can just get the dwarf to make it…

"Is it possible for you to make the bracelet as soon as you can?"

"Hm, just a moment, Lloyd." Dirk paused. "Just who is this person without a Key Crestless Exsphere we're talking about?" The dark eyes of the dwarf saw right through whatever lie Lloyd would bring up. "Lloyd, remember. Dwarven Vow #11: Lying is the first step to thievery." Well, now the boy couldn't lie under the vow. "Tell me the truth now…You're the Chosen, I know, but it's no reason to lie to me…" The brunet frowned, sighing sadly.

"Okay…I…met someone at the ranch that doesn't have a Key Crest, and she looked very ill…" He began, noticing Dirk's furious gaze burning upon him.

"WHAT?!" The short man bellowed. "Why'd you go to the ranch, boy? You know the village has a treaty with them to protect ya, and ya went anyway?!"

"I-I'm sorry, Dirk… But I just couldn't…!" Lloyd tried to defend himself.

"Ya didn't let them see yer face, did ya?"

"N-No, I made sure they didn't."

Dirk sighed. "Lloyd, you know I only treat you like a son, regardless of where ya came from, but don't get involved with the Desians now. Just do what'cha 'ave to do and go on yer journey. That'll rid of them Desians. Just focus on that now." The brunet shook his head furiously, despite he couldn't actually feel the emotion bubbling inside him.

"Dirk! How can you expect me to be the Chosen when people are dying and suffering before my very eyes?" The boy asked, half rhetorically. "I know I can save everyone by going on the journey, but this! I can't ignore this! It's my duty to protect and save those I meet, isn't it? Then this is something I can't let go. I can't let others be sacrificed for me, or become the object of torture just because of…those Desians…!"

"Lloyd! Calm yourself down!" Dirk instructed aloud, hoping the teen would calm down.

"Why can't I save even one person before me? The priests at the temple died because Desians were after me. What kind of Chosen am I if I can't even do one thing right?"

"Lloyd…"

"…Never mind, Dirk. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted at you. That was…very…un-Chosen like of me to…"

The man shook his head softly. "Nah, you were right in yer own way, Lloyd. There is…no need to apologize…" He rubbed his chin, his beard and sighed. "Go home now, Lloyd, it's getting late. Your parents will be worried about ya being out so late. I'll make ya the finest scabbards for yer swords, so you can 'eave them here." The Chosen nodded silently, putting the weapons down beside the table, turning to leave the house. Dirk watched him go, sighing again.

As soon as Lloyd exited the dwarf's house, he was met with Raine, Colette, Genis and Kratos, all staring at him worriedly. He paused momentarily to gaze back before falling into a frown. "Sorry…You all probably heard that, didn't you?"

"It's all my fault, Lloyd… You and Colette… you both came with me and…"

"Genis, I said it was okay." The brunet said with a forced smiled. "What are you guys doing here, anyway?"

"We came here to find you, Lloyd." Raine stepped in. "When you weren't with Colette and Genis, they told us you had gone to Dirk's to get sheathes made for your swords."

The boy Chosen nodded. "Yeah, that's right, I did."

"Well, in any case, we're glad you're all right. But please, be careful. You had us worried." The professor said softly.

"I'm sorry…I'll…I'll try my hardest." Lloyd apologized.

"Lloyd, apologizing so much doesn't suit you…" Colette smiled warmly. The adopted brother laughed lightly, agreeing. It really wasn't like him to, knowing his usual character. "Come on, we're going home. Father will be worried about us." The girl took his hand with hers, leading him from the dwarf's house. "You'll miss dinner." The others followed behind the two, carefully weaving their way through the dark forest again. However, during the trek, Kratos found his eyes on the boy again, and the words he spoke earlier, about his discovery. He told him Forcystus had found him in the IseliaForest, and he noticed upon crossing over a certain ditch in the area, the brunet seemingly shuddered visibly. The mercenary heavily noted this and searched around for the spot his son disliked. The group walked ahead as he stayed behind to observe. He walked around a small looping corner, his sharp eyesight looking for anything out of the ordinary.

Unfortunately, he didn't find anything that led him to wherever Lloyd had been "hiding" all those years ago. Regardless, it didn't truly matter—the seraph had somewhat reunited with his lost child. The only thing now was to prevent him from knowing until it was the right time. But, _when_ was the right time? How could he tell his son that they were both over four thousand years old, and that he wasn't the reincarnation of the Angel Lloyd, but rather he _is_ the same Lloyd spoken in the 'fake' and falsely made legend? The weight of it all would be heavy, and Kratos wasn't sure if he could handle it all. "…This is becoming more of a chore…" The auburn muttered to himself, walking on the regular path to catch up with everyone else. This was also going to be long night.

* * *

Galdr: Yup, I pulled an all-day I mean, I sat in one position and typed all this in one day like I was shooting for. Go me! Sorry if this is enormously long, I think I went overboard. Oh, and they'll be out of Iselia next chapter, I promise. So much altering of the story, it's so fun. Review if you like!


	8. Forcystus and the Chosen's Banishment

[What-if] What if Martel was Lloyd's mother? What if he was born a few years before the Kharlan War? What if Lloyd unintentionally became the next Chosen? Tales of Symphonia "what-if", partially follows the game/manga/OVA. [AU]

Hello! After stalling for time with other stories, really, I got chapter eight done. And I only had two reviews for chapter seven. I was really hoping that chapter would have been the best so far. Oh well! No need to get upset about it! Everyone's got a life to live. Just a heads up; this chapter contains Forcystus/Lloyd friendship and it might be a little shorter. Also, there's some swearing in here, so yeah.

I don't own Tales of Symphonia because I just don't. I also don't own the story picture. I can't find the original artist, sadly. So kudos to them whoever did the picture. I tried searching for a couple of days, honest to my heart.

Enjoy!

* * *

-x-x-x-

The Goddess's Son of Mana

**Chapter 8: Forcystus and the Chosen's Banishment**

-x-x-x-

Next morning in Iselia came quite well at the Brunel's house as well as the rest of Iselia. Lloyd woke up earlier than normal, showering and dressing as he did, getting his bag together again. He packed in his toothbrush after brushing them, and obviously his special comb to run through his wild locks of brown hair. When everything was set, he made up his bed neatly and looked over to the mercenary who had been waiting patiently in his room. Lloyd smiled to Kratos as they exited the room, still remembering last night and how the purple-clad swordsman wound up in his room. Outside the house, they were met by Raine, who got up early to prepare herself. After explaining the situation to the elven woman, she agreed and went along with them.

-x-x-x-

Last Night

-x-x-x-

"Colette, Lloyd! You're back!" Frank smiled as he welcomed his children into his arms. The teens blushed in embarrassment to their father's parental expression but laughed lightly after sharing the embrace. The older blond looked up and noticed Kratos had been standing by the closed door, looking at them with his straight, emotionless face. "Ah, Kratos. Welcome back as well. Thank you for looking after Colette and Lloyd. I hope they weren't any trouble for you."

"No, they weren't." The auburn replied smoothly.

"All right. Well, dinner's being served." Frank turned to Lloyd, smiling. "Since it's your birthday, Lloyd, I cooked your favorite today; baked chicken and steamed broccoli!"

The brunet's face lit up in delight. "Really? Thanks Dad!"

Colette giggled. "I knew you'd like it! That's why I was hoping you wouldn't miss dinner. Come on, Lloyd. Let's wash our hands!" The siblings quickly make their way to the downstairs restroom to do just that. When they were out of sight for the moment, Phaidra came in with the plate of steamed broccoli and then another with the chicken. Frank looked at Kratos, noticing the mercenary had been staring in the direction Lloyd had gone.

"Kratos?"

"…?" Aforementioned male turned to meet the gaze of Frank. "Yes?"

"Are you worried for Lloyd?"

"…A little." He admitted. "Do you know what will become of your son when he completes his journey?"

Frank closed his eyes and tensed lightly. Of course he knew! That was something he wanted to avoid talking about, ever mentioning it around Lloyd. The boy would grow terrified and never go on the journey. Frank, of course, as much as he loved the world and wished for it to be saved, his little boy was worth much more than the world's decline of mana. "Yes, I do know. I was told about the true meaning of it when he reached nine years old…" The blond sighed heavily. "Sometimes I wish there was another way, but there isn't…"

Internally, Kratos was hoping for the same thing and cursing Cruxis even more for putting his son into this mess. Not just Cruxis, but Yggdrasil. Instead of openly admitting what it felt like, the mercenary remained silent, observing the reactions of Frank. "Kratos, I don't know if they've told Lloyd this, but for him to die for the goddess…I don't want him to ever know about it. He'll lose his will to go on the journey. As a man to another man, would you keep this a secret?" Ah, another secret to keep, despite the Chosen himself already knowing of this. But Frank didn't know Lloyd already knew, so what was the harm in keeping this little secret?

"Very well. I shall not tell him." Kratos replied honestly, letting the other parent smile.

"…Thank you."

"Father! We're back and with clean hands!" Colette chirped as she and Lloyd returned from washing their hands. The siblings took seats next to each other, with Lloyd prodding on one of Kratos' swallow tails.

"Kratos, eat with us!" the boy said, staring up into the mercenary's eyes with his own. Aforesaid seraph glanced down to meet the Chosen's gaze, cringing mentally. He was instantly reminded of the boy himself when he was younger, asking him a very similar thing when he turned three. It was the same exact phrase, the same exact begging eyes and that smile with it. As much as he couldn't stomach food as much as he used to, he couldn't refuse those eyes of his son. "If it is the Chosen's wish…" Kratos said, still biting himself in the ass for referring to Lloyd as an object.

"Yeah, it is my wish that you sit with us and eat." Lloyd said with a small laugh. Kratos said nothing but complied, taking a seat next to Lloyd. His red eyes found themselves staring at the brunet, who was staring back, still smiling. If Kratos had lost any sense of himself, he would have shouted, "Lloyd, stop looking at me that way!" or "My son!" and hugged him tightly. But, being stoic and respectful as he was, and that he fought the inner father within him, he didn't budge on it. However, those eyes and that smile were creeping up on him. How much longer would he have to go through this torture until he could reveal who he truly was to the boy?

Frank and Phaidra took a seat next after putting out a plate of sweetened corn bread and rice. "Since it's Lloyd's birthday today, we'll let him say the grace." Phaidra said as she smiled to the birthday boy. "But before that…" The elderly woman and her son presented two wrapped boxes to the sixteen-year old, who stared in wonder and bewilderment. "Lloyd, while today was the day of the oracle, it is still your birthday, son. We only want the best for you. We haven't forgotten, either."

Lloyd sat there, wide-eyed and trembling. The whole village didn't seem to care about his birthday except his friends and family. His brown eyes caught the sight of Colette presenting a wrapped gift as well to him. She, Frank and Phaidra were smiling as he took the presents from them, slowly. Kratos watched the interaction of his son with these people the boy knew well and was stunned beyond words when he saw the traces of tears running down the boy's face. Why was Lloyd crying? Wouldn't someone be happy they received gifts from their family? The swordsman was about to say something when Frank cut in first. "Lloyd? What's wrong?"

"Are you not happy?" Phaidra wondered next.

Lloyd shook his head. Yes, he was truly happy! Happy that people remembered it was his freaking sixteenth birthday and not a day to shower him with Martel's preaching word. "Y-yeah, I'm happy." The brunet Chosen replied steadily. "I'm…just _truly _happy you all remembered my birthday was today. Colette and Genis did earlier and we had some chocolate cake. But I thought everyone had forgotten it. Every year it was always inside the temple with ceremonies being held in there. No one else was allowed there except the priests." His audience grew quiet as he went on. "I felt so lonely and so depressed. It was like nobody cared I existed as a person, as a human being. They only wanted me to do as the goddess' will and everything. I never got a birthday party or anything…" Kratos flinched, but hid it. They holed up the poor boy in the temple for every birthday? They did that to _his_ son? No parties? No friends? What kind of child cruelty were they placing this kid in?

"I don't care about the gifts or anything like that. Just some acknowledgement that I'm still me, that I'm Lloyd Brunel—" _Aurion_. Kratos wanted to remind him, but of course, he couldn't. "—and a person just like them. I should be able to deserve birthdays like any other kid."

"Lloyd…" Frank trailed, unable to finish.

"Dad, Lady Phaidra, Colette… Thank-you." Lloyd said truthfully with that Martel-shaped smile of his that made Kratos shudder every time. "You three, Genis, the Professor and Dirk make me feel like I'm actually alive and not some object…That makes me happy and that's why I…suddenly started crying. I'm sorry."

Colette hugged her adopted brother tightly. "Lloyd, don't apologize. We're all here for you, okay? You're never going to be alone." She gave him a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, thanks Colette."

Lloyd set the presents down beside him, drying his tears. "All that…made me hungry. Let's eat."

The family, with Kratos, all nod, and after saying grace, they ate merrily, recalling memories and telling stories to Kratos, who actually paid attention to them. After all, they revolved around his son's life as a child, and though he missed majority of the boy's life, he wanted to get to know him more than where he came from. After all, he _knew_ where he came from; him and Martel. The mercenary ate slowly as to not upset his body's unnecessary need for food, but to make it believable, he'd have to stomach something. He noticed Lloyd eating very little, but it was enough to fool even the Brunel family. After dinner, the family were readying themselves to sleep; Frank prodded Kratos with a question of where he would sleep. The mercenary simply told them he would rest in a chair near the living room's wall.

"Wouldn't that be uncomfortable?" Frank asked.

"I am fine with just sleeping in the chair." Kratos told him. "As a mercenary, we're trained to sleep wherever, even in uncomfortable positions." It wasn't a total lie, as Kratos could literally sleep anywhere, and the fact he didn't really needed sleep anyway.

Sighing in defeat, the blond-haired father relented. "All right then. Do you need a blanket then?"

"I will be fine without it."

"It usually gets cold down here at night…" Frank began objecting.

"Hey, Kratos, you can sleep in my room!" The two fathers turned to meet the voice's owner, Lloyd. He was in his pajamas, which were simply red in color; red long sleeve, button-up shirt, red pants and had darker red trimming along the hems of the attire. The button-up shirt covered the brunet's Cruxis Crystal almost completely. "Don't sleep down here in the cold. Come up to my room. It's warm and well, we're both guys."

"Well, Lloyd…I don't think Kratos would want…" Frank started again but the teen persisted.

"I trust Kratos. He won't do anything bad to me, Dad. Besides, it gets cold down here and lonely."

"…If Kratos wants to." Frank said, almost sighing in defeat again.

Kratos looked at Frank, then to Lloyd and his Martel-induced smile. Damn that smile always got him, if it the boy's eyes didn't. He closed his eyes and sighed, nodding. "If you would like for me to, Chosen, then I will." He actually didn't mind being in the same room as his son. In fact, it thrilled him. However, he had to hide it as with other things he discovered about the boy. He couldn't let his fatherly emotions best him. "Great! Well, come on up!" Lloyd offered, turning to hurry up the stairs. Frank and Kratos exchanged glances before they headed upstairs as well, with Frank turning the candle-lights off. When the mercenary reached the Chosen's bedroom, as he remembered it, the boy closed his door and shuffled to his bed, sitting on it.

"Hey, Kratos." The teenager addressed the man by name, who presumably took the desk's chair as his place to rest for the night in the boy's room.

"Yes, Chosen?" That still irked him to say that.

Lloyd didn't seem to catch on with that but went on anyway. "Uh, thanks for having dinner with us. And, thank you for looking out for me and Colette. You know, you should really take that payment my Dad and Lady Phaidra offered to you…"

_Again, being paid to watch over my son is foolish. You are not worth the amount of money they offered me—you're more than that._ "I do not need to be paid to watch and protect you. Your safety is worth more than money." Kratos replied truthfully, staring at the teen. "However, the food…was good. You're welcome." Lloyd chuckled at the man's response before bringing his knees to his chest, still sitting on the bed. He was watching the mercenary intently, as if he had figured out the man's motives. Of course, he hadn't, but something in the back of his mind clued him in about the silent sellsword. Just, what was it? Something about him seemed almost familiar, but Lloyd was sure he'd never met this man before until earlier. But, what harm could it do to ask him?

"Kratos…"

"Yes, Lloyd?" The mercenary answered, forgetting the title and addressing him by his name.

"Another thing…I can't help but feel that…you're familiar." The auburn turned to face the Chosen with his usual expression but deep down, he was holding his breath. Did he already figure it out? "Ever since I turned into an angel, I guess, and all, I could see energy emitting off everyone that I see. It's mana, I know, but it's weird. I've been able to see it when I was younger, before experiencing those weird symptoms." He looked up to the ceiling randomly before facing Kratos again. Thankfully, the boy was nowhere near as close as the seraph thought. "J-just between you and me… I'm…not full human."

"You're not?" Kratos asked, though he already knew why, and not for the angelic reasons.

"No…remember me mentioning Forcystus, the grand cardinal of the human ranch near here?"

Kratos sighed inwardly as he felt he knew where this was going, though decided to inquire upon it for the boy's sake. "Yes. What about him?"

"Well, the couple of times I met and spent time with him, he told me I was a half-elf, or rather, I had half-elf blood in me." Lloyd flinched a little, wondering what Kratos' reaction to this revelation would be. He was expecting to be yelled and scorned at, hated and thrown out with nothing to call his home. But, instead of that, the mercenary was giving him that sad, yet soft look again. What was with that look? It almost seemed like a face of longing and want. As if he were found something he lost. What did Kratos lose, anyway? "…You're…not mad?"

"Why would I be upset at you for having half-elven blood?" The mercenary answered with his own question.

Lloyd was taken aback but answered the man's question anyhow. "…Well…half-elves aren't really welcomed around here because of the Desians. And, well, if they found out I was of half-elf descent, they'd disregard me as the Chosen and then I'd have nowhere to go…" He turned towards the window, watching as the moon shifted towards his window slightly, allowing the moon's light into the room. "I was…afraid you'd reject me. Forcystus didn't because we're most likely alike. He knew what I was and spared me. And…I admit…there were a few times I went near the ranch when I wasn't supposed to, like when I was eight. He saved me from getting hurt, again, like the first time. But after that, he appeared to make some time to spend with me a couple other times when I left the village to be on my own."

He sighed deeply, but held a contented smile. "I know Forcystus isn't the greatest person to be friends with and I'm sure he doesn't think of me as his friend, but…he's not…so bad, you know? I know I'm not supposed to and it's dangerous and it risked the village… but he never hurt me."

_That's because he couldn't if he didn't want to be on the receiving end of Yggdrasil's wrath._ Kratos said, only to himself though and remained silent, waiting for the teen to finish.

"He said he couldn't hurt me because I was the Chosen and that I was a half-elf, even if it was…diluted, I guess." Lloyd ran a hand through his hair. "He said it like he cared about me. I don't know why he wants to torture humans in that ranch place. It's wrong. I tried to tell him that but he doesn't budge. He only tells me that the humans deserved it for making half-elves suffer."

_He's a half-elf who resents humans. Not only that, he is serving Cruxis into developing Exspheres._ Kratos wanted to say, but as usual, he couldn't. "Lloyd, I do not know what I can tell you about this, as I've stayed clear of the human ranches…" The mercenary said, though it was a lie. He had to observe the ranches as they were literally under his thumb's command. The boy bought the lie and nodded slowly. "It's okay… I actually just needed to…let out something that had been on my mind. I'm not sure how I'm a half-elf, but I guess one of my parents had to have been one…most likely my mother. And then, my father's obviously an angel." Kratos sighed inwardly again. The teen had no idea how close he was to the realization of his heritage. Yes, his mother was a half-elf and his father was an angel, but it was not the angel they met today. Kratos heard Lloyd shuffle and move, going underneath his covers of his bed.

"Thanks for listening and understanding me, Kratos. I'm sure you didn't want to…hear all that."

The auburn shook his head. "It's fine, Lloyd. I don't mind. It actually helps build trust if you share such with someone you wish to trust."

"Yeah, and I definitely want you to trust me as I trust you, Kratos."

"Verily. You should get some rest, even if you can't…sleep."

"I can manage some form of sleep though. But yeah, you're right. Good night, Kratos." The brunet blew out his lighted candle that was on his dresser and fell into the heap of his blankets. The only light in the room was the moon's and it beamed down upon Lloyd's young face. The silence carried on until aforesaid boy sat up slightly, eyeing the mercenary, who had his arms crossed over his chest. His head was down somewhat, eyes closed and was breathing slowly. "…Kratos?" Lloyd tested, making sure the swordsman was awake or sleep. The sound of the teen's voice instantly awoke the mercenary; not that he was really sleep, of course.

"Yes, Lloyd?"

"…Am I annoying to you or anything?"

Random question was random. While the boy's rapid-fire questions were a little irritating, he admitted, he couldn't find anything annoying about his child. He would eventually get used to questions he had, but no. He was not annoyed by Lloyd, and he never could. "No, Lloyd. You're not annoying. What ever made you think or say of that?" The auburn asked, his unsuppressed fatherly tone half driving the question.

"…No reason. Just wanted to know. That's all. Good night, now." Lloyd chuckled in embarrassment, laying his head down on his pillow quickly. Kratos stared at the boy for a moment longer after seeing his reaction and sighed. This would be a long night.

-x-x-x-

This morning, Lloyd woke up and wanted to go straight to Dirk's to pick up his swords and the hand crafted sheathes he was promised. After asking for Kratos' company—which the mercenary would have gone anyway—and Frank's permission, the two left the Brunel's house, with Raine along. Not many villagers were up at the time, and those that were had greeted their Chosen when he passed by them. However, upon entering the forest of Iselia, a strange green and white dog looking creature greeted them and tackled Lloyd down! "Aaah!" Lloyd cried as he was being assaulted by multiple affectionate licks of the creature—a protozoan. Kratos almost raised his sword on the beast but realized who it was and shook his head. "Wh-what is this thing?!" The brunet Chosen cried.

"What in the world?" Raine wondered, already on guard to hurt the poor creature.

"Noishe…" Kratos said, glaring at the creature. The protozoan by name got off the poor teenager and lowered his head sadly. But, he was excited! He finally found his master's son and was overjoyed! It had taken him ages to get the stupid angels to realize their little Lloyd was in this forest the whole time, but they hadn't even listened to him those years ago. In fact, Noishe gave Kratos an "I-told-you-so" look which the seraph sighed as his response. Kratos watched as Lloyd got up eyes widening at the green and white dog-wolf thing sitting near the mercenary, wagging his tail happily. As much as the purple-clad swordsman wanted Lloyd to react excitedly about Noishe's presence, he didn't get it. Instead, the brunet was confused.

"Wh…who's that, Kratos? Do you know him?" Lloyd asked, which resulted in Noishe frowning, lowering his head and whimpering. That didn't go by unnoticed by Lloyd. "Wh-what? Why's he sad? Did I say something?"

"It would seem his feelings are hurt." Raine said after lowering her staff. "What do you think, Kratos? This…dog seems to know you."

"…He believes you may be someone he knew, Chosen." Kratos explained, eyeing the teacher next. "Don't worry, Noishe is well behaved and trained."

"Okay—wait you said Noishe?" Lloyd repeated, his mouth agape like an idiot. Uh-oh, this is something Kratos half-worried about his son. Hoping the teen wouldn't remember, and then wanting him _to_ remember. The former would make things easier for the mercenary, though. "…Huh, must have imagined it. I thought I remembered something but then I didn't. Weird." Whew, close call. "Well then…Noishe, I guess if you're a friend of Kratos' then you can be with us." The protozoan smiled as much as a dog could at the boy's words.

Raine shook her head. "Well, let's get on to Dirk's, and then we'll finish stocking up in Iselia." She said after. When the brunet and his teacher were a little ways off, Kratos petted the dog's head lightly.

"Noishe…I know he's…Lloyd, but right now, he can't know it…not until the right time."

The protozoan sadly understood and kept by the seraph as they caught up to Lloyd and Raine.

Back at the village, when a good thirty minutes passed, Colette woke up, stretching from her rest. The first thing she did was check her adopted brother's bedroom; it was unfortunately empty. She gasped lightly and hurried down the stairs as fast as her legs could carry her, almost running into her father in the process. "Oh, Colette. Good morning." Frank greeted her.

"G-Good morning, Father." She answered back hastily. "Where's Lloyd?" _Oh no, did he leave for the journey already? And without me and Genis telling him goodbye?_

"Oh, he left earlier this morning, about thirty minutes ago, with Kratos and Raine—" Frank began. Colette's heart stopped momentarily as he continued. "—to Dirk's house. He said he needed to pick up his swords and sheathes he asked Dirk to make him." A sigh of utter relief escaped the blonde girl's mouth. "I know you wanted to see him off, but he said he'd come back to stock up on a few items before leaving."

"Y-yes, I did. Genis and I both want to." The girl admitted. "I-I'll go get ready now. I bet he'll be back by the time I'm done!"

Before she could let her father respond, Colette thundered up the stairs so fast she was like a yellow and pink blur—pink being the color of her pajamas. What seemed like five minutes later, Colette emerged from her room, fully dressed in her usual white robes, dark navy blue leggings and white boots appeal—as she was in training to become a priestess like her grandmother—and rushed out of the house after grabbing a piece of toast. "Thank you, Father!" She blurted out unladylike and zoomed out. The man blinked as he looked out from the kitchen, only seeing a blur of yellow and the door shutting behind it. "Erm, see you later, Colette." He said, knowing she didn't hear that.

Once outside, nibbling on her toast, she soon spotted Genis coming towards her in a mad dash, no pun intended. "Colette!" The elf mage called out to her, stopping when he got close. "Did…Did Lloyd leave already?"

"Yeah." The girl said as she finished her toast, noticing the sad expression on the young mage's face. "Oh, don't worry Genis. My father said he left for Dirk's to get his sheathes then he was coming right back to stock up. So, we'll actually see him again and be able to see him off." This brightened up the silver-haired boy's mood, but he still felt a little down.

"Y-yeah… I still wish we could go with him."

"Me too."

"…Hey, how about we go to Dirk's? You said he left for his house half an hour ago? He might still be there, or on his way back. We might catch up with him." Genis suggested, smiling, hoping. "You know…we can spend a little more time with him before he really goes…"

Colette smiled warmly at the idea. "Oh, good idea, Genis. Let's go, then."

"Okay!"

The two friends eagerly leave the Brunel's house area and head through the village on the eastward path, looping back around to the front of the village. The guards warned them again about Desians and the ranch, which the two young teens nod to. However, just as they were five miles away from Iselia, they spot a small group of men dressed in red and armed with whips, swords and battle armor. "…De-Desians!" Genis gaped. "Let's hide, Colette! Hurry!" They wasted no time rushing into the nearby shrubbery, staying out of sight and out of the way, holding their breath as much as they could. Sure enough, the Desians of the human ranch were storming their way towards Iselia!

"…Oh no…this is bad." Genis whispered to Colette. "Th-they're going for the village…"

"We have to find Lloyd and tell him." Colette said, urgency in her voice. "Let's go when there's a chance."

A few moments pass and the group of half-elves were gone far enough for the two friends to emerge from their hiding spots and booked it towards the Iselia forest. There was no time to lose—they _had_ to find Lloyd and fast!

-x-x-x-

"Thanks Dirk!" Lloyd says as he straps his new sheathes to his belt, one on each side of his waistline. His stolen swords fit comfortably in them, and they weren't a hassle nor a hindrance to him when he walked. "They fit just right and everything."

"Aye, no problem, Lloyd m'boy." The dwarf said with a hearty smile. "Also, take this." Lloyd tilted his head slightly as the short man gave him a bracelet—one that would assist as the key crest replacement. The brunet's widened as he stared at the dwarf.

"…Dirk? You…made it anyway?"

"Do what you want with it, but don't do anything rash, ya hear?"

Lloyd nodded, smiling. "I won't Dirk. Thank you." Now he could save Marble and then all his troubles, for now, would be at ease.

"I suppose this wraps this up, does it?" Raine asked as she sat up from the table in Dirk's house, setting her coffee cup down. "Are you ready to go, Lloyd?"

"Yeah, I am. I need to go back to the village and finish stocking up on items we'll need. That and I…want to say goodbye to Colette and Genis."

"…All right." The silver-haired woman complied. "Well, Dirk, thank you again for your hospitality. We'll see you."

"Aye. Take care of th'lad. He's a good kid, with a good head on 'is shoulders but he can be a bit rash on decisions, ha-ha." Dirk said, giving his friendly laugh after. The brunet grumbled but smiled anyways. After all, the dwarf meant well. The three bid him farewell again, leaving the dwarf to his duties and exiting his house. Noishe was sitting outside watching nature as he patiently waited for them. "We're going now, Noishe." Kratos told the protozoan who chirped—somehow—in delight. Raine and Lloyd exchanged odd glances with one another before heading after Kratos. They managed to get across the bridge of the forest when they heard voices nearing them. Could it be Desians? As the mercenary was preparing his sword, Lloyd stopped him.

"Chosen…?"

"No, those sounds aren't Desians or monsters." Lloyd said. "It…sounds like…"

"Lloyd!"

Genis and Colette! The two friends, out of breath, rushed towards them, panting heavily. It was noticeable they had been running awhile, and from something it seemed. The brunet was the first to jump on this. "What happened? What are you guys running from? Are you okay?"

"W…We're fine…" Genis panted. "B-But we saw them, Lloyd!"

"Saw who?"

Colette recovered a little of her breath and spoke, "Desians."

The group froze on the name, though Raine was able to press further. "What about the Desians?"

"They're heading right for the village!" Genis blurted out. "Colette and I… we were going to find you Lloyd and catch up with you before you set off but then we saw them coming towards us. We hid but…" They didn't need to say anything more. Lloyd's face already grew with fury, and his hands instinctively went upon the hilts of his swords.

"There's no time. We have to save them." He said, being the irrational teenager he was.

"Lloyd!" The elven woman tried but he refused.

"No, we have to save the villagers. It's my fault and I have to take responsibility. I can't let the village burn down!" With that, the determined Chosen raced along the path that led towards Iselia, not caring if the others followed him or not. With his angelic strengthened hearing, he did hear the rest of them follow behind him. But, his mind was on the Desians, and more importantly, the one who was in charge of them. _Forcystus…I'm sorry. I have to apologize to you and make you stop whatever you're planning._ Lloyd thought, urging himself to hurry. There was no time to waste while innocent lives were on the line.

-x-x-x-

Eight Years Ago

-x-x-x-

Lloyd, seven years old and going on eight soon, was strolling through the forest of Iselia by his lonesome. The day was partially cloudy, but the young Chosen didn't mind. He stayed away from monster's eyes and kept to himself. Days like these, he just wanted to go see the dwarf, Dirk and spend time with him. Learning about the Dwarven Vows and dwarven technology excited him the most out of his young life, and today was one of those days he'd set aside for the short man's attention. He was dressed in a short sleeve-turtle neck like red shirt, tan colored shorts, long white socks and brown shoes. As usual, Lloyd's wild mop of hair remained the same style as it normally was, though it was growing a few inches longer in the back. As he neared the usual T-intersection of the forest, he overheard some voices.

"Damn bastard! Get back in line!" One voice shouted. After that, cracks of a whip lashed against flesh and a man's moan bellowed out. It continued for several moments until it stopped for some reason. The next voice that Lloyd heard was "Damn inferior beings! They're always doing something stupid!" Inferior beings? Who were those? And why were these voices swearing so much? Curious, the brunet Chosen walked carefully on the east path, looking around for whoever was the owner of the last voice. As Lloyd drew closer, he didn't see the three Desian guards that were, well, guarding the human ranch's entrance. They all spotted the inferior being brat and growled.

"Hey! Brat, what the hell are you doing here?!" One shouted as he and his cohorts ushered themselves upon the seven-year-old boy. Lloyd gasped, looking up as he was caught unintentionally. His large, brown eyes met with each of the taller men's forms, becoming terrified.

"Damnit, it's a human! Must be from that stupid village Lord Forcystus arranged some treaty with!" another said.

"Well, if this kid is here, then he's breaking the treaty!" the third rants. He narrowed his eyes—that were hidden under his helmet—at the brown-haired boy, growling. "You're in some deep shit, you son of a bitch."

Lloyd, too scared and frozen to babble anything, watched as the men rounded on him. He could feel the warm tears in his eyes forming and rolling down his face. What were these guys going to do to him? "It's just a kid, though. There's no need to charge into the village and kill _all_ those human. I say we slap the hell out of this brat and then drag him into the ranch as a prize for Lord Forcystus." The second said, also eyeing Lloyd like a hungry lion. "Yes, we'll see what he thinks of trespassers!"

"Come on! Get him!" the first says, reaching out to grab Lloyd. The boy barely backed away, still in shock, but the instant the Desian grabbed him by the locks of his hair forcefully, the child wailed loudly. It was an ear-shattering screech that could have broken glass windows if it could. In fact, on the inside of the ranch, many glass containers were cracking and the indoor windows were beginning to split apart. Those that were handling radio transmissions of sorts were groaning in pain when the echoed cry rung through their sensors. "What the hell was that?!" The fourth Desian, being indoors, asked out of the blue.

"It was a cry, that's what!" another answered.

"Dumbass, I know that! But from where?"

"I don't know! It couldn't have been from one of those blasted humans, could it?"

"Go check." A voice interrupted their conversation. It was a half-elf man with aquamarine hair, wearing an eye-patch over his left eye and a cannon over his left arm. "Round up those pathetic nuisances and find the culprit."

"Y-yes Lord Forcystus!" A desian saluted as she scurried out, yelling out the orders to everyone else in the ranch. Soon, the entire ranch guards herded the human slaves out like sheep and glared them down. Once they were all gathered, one of the Desians shouted at them. "Who is causing that entire racket?" The humans stayed silent, trembling in fear. They all knew they didn't scream like that, but they couldn't admit that or they'd be at fault for admitting they _weren't_ at fault. Only thing to do was to not talk at all. After a moment of silence, the Desian roared again. "WELL!? Who is going to speak up? Or shall all of you suffer? Stop trying to hide the bloke!"

One brave soul stepped forward. "…It…It wasn't us."

"Oh? And how do you think we'll believe you, inferior wench?"

The woman who spoke up recoiled. "…I… It was from outside the ranch, I-I swear." She defended.

"Hmph! And you think we'll believe the likes of you? Get her!" The Desian ordered other guards to grab her. The woman's eyes shrunk as she was grabbed roughly. "N-No, I…I was only trying to…!" She tried but couldn't finish. The sound of that loud, glass-breaking scream cried out again, nearly shaking the foundation.

"What on earth!" Another half-elf soldier gawked. The woman wench was right after all, it was coming outside of the gates! And just at that time, Forcystus stepped out, making both humans and Desians stand back and make room for him. "Open the damn gates!" He roared in command. Just as he spoke, the electronic, metal gates opened and the half-elf grand cardinal stormed out. He had sensed it the moment he ordered those buffoons to round up the humans to interrogate. Admitting he was wrong was one thing, but this, what he sensed, was another. It was a half-elf's cry of help, and not just _any_ half-elf. He knew who it belonged to; the unique mana he felt only had one master.

Lloyd.

The aquamarine-haired cardinal scowled when he saw one of his men grab the young Chosen by the hair, making the child scream and then hit him. The nerve of his dumbass men. Before the others could strike the child, Forcystus growled. "Fools!" He snapped, almost feeling like he was repeating himself with this. "What the hell are you doing!?" The Desians who were beating on Lloyd dropped the child in a hurry, stammering and trying to get into attention.

"Lord F-Forcystus! This human child approached the ranch and broke the treaty! We were teaching him a lesson, sir and then we would present him to you." The first Desian spoke.

"We thought you'd want to know about a human trespasser." The second added.

Now, if this were any normal, human child, the half-elf grand cardinal wouldn't have minded. In fact, he probably would've had his men skewer the child with their sword or something, then go make hell in the nearby village. But, this wasn't just _any_ child. This boy was not only the Chosen but a fellow half-elf! Diluted as it may be, he was still one of them. Why hadn't his men sensed his mana, he couldn't ever fathom why. Maybe they were dull and idiotic. "You idiots! Can't you see straight?!"

"…H-however do you mean, sir?" the third Desian wondered.

"This child you just tried beating down is the Chosen!" Forcystus snapped. "No less, a half-elf!" He knew they would question how he was a half-elf so he continued on. "It doesn't matter if he doesn't look it, his mana tells no lies. Put your eyes back in your damn sockets and focus you dullards! You know how human's manas feel like! Does this boy's mana feel ANYTHING like it?" Yup, you could tell Forcystus was pissed. The Desians flinch at the deathly tone of their cardinal, looking over to the still trembling and wailing Lloyd, taking a closer inspection upon his mana. True to their superior's words, the boy's mana didn't match the humans. It was like a half-elf's, but diluted by the human mana wrapped around. Regardless, they felt it and now they were in deep shit.

"…Y-yes…Sir, you're r-right." the first Desian uttered under his breath.

"Good. Now get in gear and tell every damn soldier in this ranch; the Chosen is Lloyd Brunel. NO ONE is to harm him and if they are caught doing so, I will personally end their pathetic lives. Got it?" The grand cardinal growled lowly.

"Y-y-yessir!" The Desians panicked and scurried off, running like pansies if one could squint hard enough. When they were gone, Forcystus approached the crying Lloyd, annoyed by his wailing, but seemingly was used to it. He used his right hand to nudge the young Chosen and stop his unnecessary tears. "Are you hurt?" The grand cardinal asks, a hint of softness in his voice, but still masked the stern complexion in tone.

Lloyd reduced himself to sniffling, shaking his head. "My face hurts a little and my head." And he began whining.

Forcystus hides a growl under his breath and raises his right hand near Lloyd. A small amount of mana gathered and formed into magic, a whitish green ball of light forming. "Stay still, now." The older half-elf commands then says, "**First Aid**." The healing art surrounds the boy, easing his pain away as if he were sleeping on a feathery pillow. "Now does it hurt anywhere?"

"No." Lloyd replies quietly.

"Good." Forcystus stands up and helps the boy Chosen to his feet, sighing. "What were you doing here?"

"I…I heard voices and I was curious—"

"You could have been hurt far worse than what you received today." The older man snapped, interrupting Lloyd. "You need to be careful." Lloyd looked down on the ground as Forcystus continued. "I can't keep waving these instances off like this all the time. You have technically broken the treaty again, Lloyd."

"…I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

The grand cardinal sighed again, putting his hand on the seven-year-old's shoulder. "Listen, kid. You can't come over here by the ranch. It's dangerous for you, and it'll sever the non-aggression treaty I've made with those humans in the nearby village. They made it to protect you." Lloyd looked into the man's eyes—or rather the only eye that was visible—and frowned. "You're important to them, as much as I regret it. Now, can you do me a favor?"

"…What is it?"

"I want you to promise to never come back to this ranch. Never come back here again. Can you do that for me?" Forcystus asked, trying his hardest not to scowl at the child. In a way, Lloyd reminded him of his younger days, and empathized with the child. "I need your word on this, Lloyd."

"…I…I promise, Forcystus."

"It's _Lord_ Forcystus." He corrected softly as he ruffled the child's hair. Just because he was a fellow half-elf didn't mean he couldn't be corrected to respect him. "Good boy. Now, run along now. Go home. I'll let this slide again." He stood to his full height. "Remember the promise now, and don't tell anyone of this encounter or they'll think we're going soft on them."

"Uh-huh." Lloyd says, feeling less scared. He turns around and hurries off, disappearing after he makes a left, going to the dwarf's house he promised himself earlier he'd go to. Once he was gone and out of sight, Forcystus turns back into the ranch, sighing.

"Why do I get the feeling I'll be seeing that kid again soon?" He grumbled to himself. "Forcystus, you can't be a babysitter for that kid…Don't get attached. He is just a pawn in Lord Yggdrasil's plans."

Unfortunately for the half-elf cardinal, Lloyd had gone up to the ranch several times after that incident, requesting to see the man every other time. For some reason he himself didn't know, Forcystus was able to spare a few minutes with the child. If it kept him from the ranch, then it would have to do. His stubbornness was irritating the half-elf cardinal, but in a way, it was starting to grow on him. The more time they spent together, the closer Lloyd got to him. Forcystus was unsure if he could allow the boy to keep randomly visiting him like this, and so, when Lloyd's tenth birthday came around, the grand cardinal forbade and banned the child from coming near the ranch. He simply ordered his men to keep the brunet Chosen away and if they came in contact with him, to not harm him but inform him.

Apparently, the "threat" worked and the man hadn't seen or heard of Lloyd for years.

But deep down, he was beginning to miss that kid…

-x-x-x-

"Forcystus…" Lloyd breathed out as he and his friends entered Iselia, which was set ablaze. The Desians came and was burning the houses down, just like he said he would. But, that was if he found out if the villagers were mistreating him. Regardless, he broke the trust he had built with the grand cardinal anyway. This was his fault, even if Genis blamed himself.

"This is awful!" Genis cried.

"No…" Colette gasped.

Just then, they heard a man's voice, and it was ever so clear; "You humans have been found guilty of mistreating the Chosen!" Lloyd knew that voice! He hurried towards the source, looking on with horror as Desians had rounded up the villagers and pointing sharp swords at them. They all were scared, of course. The mayor was standing in the midst of them, fists clenched.

"Wh-what?" The mayor gawked. "We've never harmed the Chosen! He was treated well! He was fed, clothed, housed and respected! H-How can you say we've mistreated the Chosen!?"

"SILENCE!" the man's voice, Forcystus, yelled in anger. Of course, he knew it wasn't true. He knew Lloyd was fine here in the village, but he couldn't let them know that. The grand cardinal was stuck in a hard place yesterday; Lloyd had broken the treaty for the third time, and his men had enough of the intrusions of humans. He was exposed to an Exsphere host in the ranch, and slew a few of his men. Even with that, he couldn't touch Lloyd. He was the Chosen, and Yggdrasil's precious vessel. If he dared harmed the Chosen in any way, he would be slain on the spot by many angels of Cruxis. However, he recalled one memory he spent with the boy.

_"Lloyd, why are you here?" Forcystus wondered as a nine-year-old Lloyd was crying, standing near him. The guards had summoned him from his office when his soldiers told them the Chosen requested his presence. Unable to turn from the boy, he got up from his desk and proceeded to meet with the brown-haired child. However, instead of being met with his usual happy face, Forcystus was greeted with the boy in tears. _

_"…So…Some kids were being mean to me." The young Lloyd sobbed. "They saw me doing magic and said I was…was a freak." While physically Forcystus didn't budge, internally he was raising hell. _

_"Lloyd…"_

_"I…I'm sorry, Fo—Lord Forcystus, but I have no one else to talk to. Colette and Genis are busy doing homework, s-so I don't want to bother them. I know I'm not supposed to be here but I…" _

That one memory he would play upon. He had informed his lord of angels that the village the Chosen had resided in, the villagers were trying to kill him, so he volunteered to kill them instead of sending others down to do the task. The lie worked well, as it allowed Forcystus' men to wreck as much havoc as they wanted without actually hurting the Chosen himself. Not only that, he was told the boy left the village, so it was as good as his. "I was told by my sources that you pathetic human roaches were harming the Chosen! For this, you shall all pay the price with your lives!" Forcystus bellowed out next.

"No, th-that's not right!" the mayor tried to defend them, but it was much too late. Forcystus summoned a strange green skinned creature into sight and ordered it to attack the villagers. They screamed in fear as it neared them. It was about to raise its long, mutated claw against them when a shout of "**Fire Ball**!" roared out. Three flaming balls of magic struck the monster, stopping it. This bought the villagers rounded up near the Desians to flee. The green skinned creature turned around to find its assailant; it was a silver-haired elf boy with a kendama. Forcystus saw the boy appear and scowled.

"Forcystus, stop this!" Lloyd shouted, entering the scene. Unlike most people, Lloyd stopped directly in front of the grand cardinal, surprising his friends and the villagers. Kratos, however, knew too well about the relationship between the grand cardinal and Lloyd. Forcystus' eye widened in shock to see the brunet right here and in the village, to boot! Damn, he was ruining his plan he lied to have vengeance for his fallen men, since he couldn't do a thing to hurt the brown-haired swordsman. "Lloyd, what are you doing here?"

"I'm stopping you from killing innocent people!" The Chosen shot back. "You can't…do this!"

"I can!" Forcystus argued back. "And I will! Move aside, Lloyd. I rather not hurt you in this."

"No, Forcystus, I won't move—!"

"That's _LORD_ Forcystus to you, human scum!" One of the Desian guards nearby growled as he rounded up on Lloyd to hit him. However, before he got within another inch closer, Kratos had stabbed him through his abdomen, drawing his sword out of the flesh wound and set his glare upon the grand cardinal. "Lloyd, get out of here, I'm serious…" Forcystus hissed under his breath but the young angel refused.

"No… Why are you doing this?!"

"Chosen! Wh…What is the meaning of this?!" the mayor roared, having seen the close interaction the brunet had with the Desian. Lloyd didn't have much of a response, so the half-elf man had to move in and do something. He wasn't much for protecting others but when it came to the Chosen, well, it was something _worth_ his time. He glanced at Lloyd, muttering, "I'm sorry for this" before turning his attention to the graying-haired leader of this supposed village.

"Hmph, you fool. Did you not realize something?" Forcystus began, with Lloyd wondering what was going on.

"What are you talking about?"

"Didn't you realize that the Chosen would leave the village for long periods of time, in his youth?"

Lloyd froze. He had an inkling of where this was going and his eyes widened in fear. No, no, Forcystus promised him! "…No… Don't…" He begged, his voice just above a hushed whisper. However, it didn't reach the half-elf man's attention at all. The mayor was still struggling to piece together the cardinal's words. "Lloyd…?" Genis glanced up to him, noticing the brunet's pale expression.

"Heh, you're an idiot for not noticing it sooner. Your dear Chosen would visit my ranch." He earned a mouthful of gasps and continued. "He would visit me sometimes and tell me things you idiots would do to him. I told you bastards years ago, if you did _anything_ to mistreat him, I'd burn your village to ashes!" He jabbed an accusing finger at the mayor, who went wide-eyed with fear but glared at Lloyd in the process.

"Y-You stupid Chosen! You stupid boy! Look at what you've done!" He roared.

Raine was shocked, Genis and Colette were surprised, Noishe growled, Lloyd paled even more, and Kratos was well over pissed. How dare this fat, irresponsible man call _his_ son "stupid"?! If the others hadn't been there, he would have unleashed hell in the form of Judgment upon him.

"Did your precious Chosen One ever tell you—"

"No…Fo-Forcystus…"

"—that he—"

"…no, stop…!"

"—is a half-elf!?"

Silence.

Then sudden gasps of shock.

Nearly all eyes fell on Lloyd, the brunet feeling the tears he thought were closed up falling from his eyes, the memory flashing before his very mind.

_"Lord Forcystus." A nine-year-old, soon to be ten years old, Lloyd said as he sat by the ledge next to the half-elf cardinal. _

_"What is it, Lloyd?" the tall man wondered, eyeing the child. "And you know you shouldn't be here."_

_"…I know." The boy Chosen said, twiddling his thumbs. "But, I just…wanted to tell you something." Forcystus looked at him again, a questionable eyebrow raised. _

_"And that would be?"_

_"Uh…D-don't tell anyone my mommy's a half-elf. That I'm a half-elf…uh…kid." Lloyd squeaked out. "I don't want the village people to be mad at me. Promise me?"_

_"What on earth are you—?" _

_"If I promise to leave your ranch alone, you have to promise not to tell anyone. Please?" _

_A moment of silence fell between the two, and the grand cardinal broke it with a low sigh. "Very well, Lloyd. It shall stay between us. No go home before I change my mind." A smile crept up on the brunet's face as he stood up and lightly hugged the half-elf man. Forcystus didn't even recoil or anything, just let it happen. "Thank-you. I'll be good and never come here again." _

_"Good." _

_With that, the boy trotted off happily, and the grand cardinal watching his every move._

"Half-elf…!?" The mayor repeated the word like it was venom, enraged as he glared at Lloyd again. The brunet dropped to his knees, his hands rushing to his face. No, he couldn't cry, but the weight, the gravity of the situation was too much for him. But, in the end, he deserved it. He broke his promise, his trust with Forcystus first. It was 'only fair' that he would receive the same punishment. Even turned against by his family and friends. Unfortunately, Frank and Phaidra had been in the crowd and overheard every detail. They were in complete shock as were his friends—except Kratos. The mercenary stepped in front of the Chosen protectively, his sword gripped tightly. If anyone even attempted to hurt his son, he would kill them on the spot.

Forcystus glanced at the crushed form of Lloyd and chided himself mentally. _I'm sorry Lloyd. I have to get you out of this village and if breaking your promise will do that, then I have no other choice._ "Now, to you pathetic human roaches! You will die! Attack!" The Desians he ordered and the monster all gathered around the villagers again, ready to kill them all. The Iselians cried out again, backing up or trying to escape from their inevitable doom. "No!" Genis cried, gathering mana together and casting Fireball again on a few Desians. Colette followed through with a Ray Thrust and Kratos rushed in to deliver a Demon Fang. Raine put a hand on Lloyd's shoulder, causing the sobbing teen to look up and face her.

She was not scowling at him as he feared she would. Instead, her face read sympathy, no _empathy_. Why did she look that way? "Lloyd, get up. We have to defend the villagers." The silver-haired woman said softly.

"But, Professor. I'm…a half-elf. My mother was. They don't want a freak like me to save them."

"Cut it out, Lloyd." The elder Sage sibling reprimanded. "It doesn't matter who you are, remember? You're still you, Lloyd Brunel, also the Chosen. Now stand up and fight with us." Lloyd closed his eyes and rose to his feet slowly, absorbing his teacher's words. She was right in every way, and he couldn't sit there and do nothing while the villagers were suffering. He had to stand up for them even if they didn't want to. He was taught many wouldn't approve of the Chosen regardless, and if this was the case, so be it.

"…You're right, Professor. I can't let this bother me. I'm still me."

"Good…Now come on."

_"Lord Forcystus?"_

Lloyd thrust one of his blades through a Desian as he ducked under a whiplash attack and dodged an arrow from a crossbow.

_"What is it, Lloyd?"_

Colette and Genis teamed up to take down two more Desians with Flaming Thrust, their Unison Attack.

_"Are you my friend?"_

Kratos approached the monster—an Exbula—and drove his sword through its right shoulder, blocking its attack with his shield and moving away to avoid being hit again.

_"What are you talking about, kid?"_

Raine chanted the spell for First Aid as the others rounded on the green-skinned creature to fight it. Lloyd and Kratos shared sword blows while Colette stayed back and struck with her chakrams. Genis continued summoning up magic to hit from a distance.

_"Well, since we talk a lot, that makes us friends, right?"_

The monster roared as it flung its arms in a three-hundred and sixty degree spin, knocking Lloyd and Kratos away. The two swordsman stood up and nodded to one another. "Get ready." Kratos told Lloyd as they prepared their move.

_"…Kid…You're taking this too far."_

_"No I'm not, Forcystus!"_

_"It's Lord Forcystus." _

_"Yeah, yeah! You sound so serious when you say that but you don't mean it around me anymore."_

_"…Lloyd."_

_"Yeah?"_

_"Go home."_

_"You don't mean that, do you?"_

_"Yes. Go home. You're not supposed to be here at the ranch anyway. I still don't understand why I'm bothering to wave you off each time you intrude."_

_"I don't either, but does this mean we're friends?"_

_"…If it'll make you go home faster, then yes, we are 'friends' Lloyd." _

"**Cross Thrust**!" Lloyd and Kratos shouted as they drove their swords in an X-shape, felling the beastly Exbula. However, before it went down completely, it was lunging at the grand cardinal himself! The monster moaned and grabbed the half-elf man tightly. This forced the surviving Desians nearby to gasp in fear. "L-Lord Forcystus!" One exclaimed.

"What is that thing doing?" Colette wondered.

"I…I don't know. Turning on its master…" Genis breathed out.

"_…G-Genis…!_" An old woman's voice croaked out, calling the elven mage. His eyes widened as he recognized who it belonged to. No, it couldn't be…! "_C-Colette… Chosen One, Lloyd… please escape…While I have control of myself, please…!_" The three teens by name gasp, exchanging looks with one another and then back to the Exbula whom had Forcystus trapped. "Unhand me, you vermin! I am your master!" The aquamarine-haired half-elf bellowed as he tried to squirm his way free.

"M-Marble…?" Genis gaped.

"_G-Genis… You… you were like a grandson to me… I'll never forget your kindness…_" Marble's voice echoed. "_F-Farewell, Genis…_" With all the strength and power it could muster, the Exbula monster—Marble—initiated some form of self-destruct upon herself and her target. Forcystus screamed in pain as his body felt like it was on fire from the implode-explosion of the creature. A small, red jewel rolled down from nowhere, right next to Genis' feet. In utter shock, the boy barely glanced down, forcing his body to pick up the abandoned Exsphere. Tears were rolling down his eyes. "No…It…Marble…No!" He cried in denial. His only other friend beside Lloyd and Colette—gone!

Forcystus panted, noticing he was tremendously weakened in his state. He couldn't carry out with his plan, and not with four soldiers left, either. He was just about to stand when he noticed Kratos was coming straight for him! The grand cardinal growled, but only because he knew his end was near. "Kratos! No, stop!" the mercenary heard Lloyd yell at him but he chose to ignore the boy. The man responsible for his son's mistreatment was the cardinal himself. Just as he was readying his sword to slash—he moved forward and swung!

But it was not Forcystus' flesh he cut into.

His red eyes widened in absolute shock.

Lloyd had moved himself between the mercenary's blade and the half-elf, barely, if one called it that. The Chosen held the half-elf grand cardinal by his head, his left shoulder having suffered the fatal blow that would have decapitated Forcystus. Kratos, unfortunately, was going through stages of turmoil, the image of his dear, lovely Martel being stabbed by the Tethe'allan replayed in his mind. Seeing Lloyd jump to protect the half-elf reminded him of his failure to protect Martel, and worse of it all, he struck his only son! That attack meant to behead someone was blocked, and in its stead, was Lloyd's shoulder. The brunet's arm was still tact; only half of the sword cleaved into his skin. Blood decorated the ground below them and tainted his red jacket where it had been shredded due to the attack.

"Lloyd!" Colette and Genis cried.

"…" Kratos was silent, but his eyes grew fearful as he scanned the boy feverishly. "Lloyd…"

"…I'm…I'm okay." The brunet lied. "Aaaugh!"

Forcystus, having been frozen there, couldn't move. He was spared and not only by fate. Lloyd had jumped in front of him, literally, and shielded him. HIM! Of all people, it was him! Why? He was in a mix of emotions, one being anger. He was angry at himself for the failing of the village raid, and angry at Lloyd for protecting him! The foolish boy. "Lloyd…you…idiot, why?" Forcystus choked out. The teenaged Chosen weakly glanced back at him, smiling. "You're my friend…Forcystus…I can't…let you die, no matter what…"

"That was stupid of you—"

"Forcystus… just go. Don't let my…shielding of you be in vain."

The two stare at one another before the grand cardinal complied. He was in no condition to sit and argue with a child, no less the Chosen. He could barely stand, and thankfully his subordinates rushed to his aid. "Lord Forcystus!" they all spoke in worry.

"…Very well, Lloyd. I will leave this time, but next time, I will not refuse." Forcystus told the boy, allowing his men to help him out of the damaged, beyond repair village. When they were gone, Lloyd collapsed, falling right into the arms of the ever-so protective Kratos. The man quickly shook out of his trance and casted a First Aid upon him, hoping the teen didn't lose too much blood. Noishe, Raine, Genis and Colette hurried over, worried. Everything was in chaos, simply put. No amount of mending could heal this scar, emotionally and physically. Lloyd slowly opened his eyes to find his friends around him, but they were blurry. Kratos was holding him up, apparently, and the brunet didn't mind it at all.

"…I'm sorry." He apologized.

"Why are you apologizing?" Genis looked at him. "Lloyd…if anything, we should be sorry to you."

"I put the village in danger." The Chosen spoke up. "It's my fault all of this happened—"

"You're damn right it is!" Uh-oh, the mayor. A few other angered villagers approached them, glaring down at the boy they knew as the Chosen. "Look at what you did, you stupid child! How many times have we told you not to go to the ranch? Hm? How many!?" Lloyd didn't answer, merely looked away and saw some houses burning down slowly. "We made that damn treaty to protect your ass, but you go and break it! I knew you were up to something! You Desian-lover Chosen!" Lloyd closed his eyes, hiding the anger and hurt that was surfacing. Kratos was about to skewer this man to silence when Genis stood up.

"Lloyd's not a Desian-lover! He's nothing like them!" The elf tried to defend.

"Didn't you hear that bastard Desian leader? He said that Lloyd was a half-elf! All Desians are half-elves!"

"Th-that's not true…" Colette spoke up next. "Lloyd…he may be a half-elf, but he's good hearted. He's been so nice and always helps."

"That's because he was plotting with them Desians, that's why! There's no other way to explain it—!"

"If you feel that way about me, then get rid of me." All eyes turned to the injured brunet who was staring up in the sky. "If you want to get rid of me to save your village, or what's left of it, then just get rid of me. I've caused you so much trouble…I deserve it." Lloyd turned to face the mayor. "But I will still do my duty as the Chosen. I will regenerate the world…and save all of you from suffering, even if you don't like me."

The mayor scowled as did the villagers who agreed with him. "So be it then. From this moment on, Lloyd Brunel, you are banished from Iselia!" He yelled.

"Y-you can't do that!" Genis bellowed.

"I just did!" The mayor countered. "If you're so bent up about it, then the rest of you are banished as well! Go, worship your Desian-loving Chosen for all the hell I care because I don't!" Oh, if Kratos wasn't holding Lloyd right now, he would have long since silenced this worm's tongue. How dare him…It wasn't like this everyday, the mercenary would get riled up in his emotions. But, this man was bad mouthing his son. Before Kratos could react in a wild manner that was not suited as a father or a gentleman, he helped Lloyd to his feet, who was now staring at the ground.

"Lloyd…" Colette tried but was cut off.

"…We have a long road ahead of us. We should go now." Lloyd told his friends. In this moment, Frank and Phaidra were approaching them as the mayor's group departed. Lloyd saw them out of the corner of his eyes but didn't face them.

"Lloyd." Frank began softly.

"You must think of me as a freak huh?"

"…What are you saying? Of course I don't."

"You must hate me…something!"

The blond-haired man shook his head. "Lloyd, it doesn't matter who you are. You're still my son. I just wish I could do something more to help you…" The brunet looked up and turned to man he had known to be his adoptive father. He simply nodded, falling into a hug with him one more time, along with Colette. "I'm sorry…Dad, Lady Phaidra."

"…Do what you must, Lloyd. We'll be rooting for you. Don't apologize." Frank said, ruffling the boy's hair. "Colette, will you…look after your brother for me?"

The girl nodded, wiping a few tears from her face. "I…I will, Father."

"May the goddess Martel keep you safe." Phaidra wishes to them, watching the group sadly depart from the once village of oracles, Iselia. It would be a long journey ahead of them, yes, and they would take it one step at a time. Lloyd, for once in his life, was glad to leave Iselia. While it was his home and he had been raised there, the tension he felt every day was killing him. So, it was partially a win-win situation to him. Good riddance.

* * *

Galdr: And now they're out of Iselia! Yay! Toldja they would be. xD

Review responses for Chapter 7!

**Marina Ka-Fai: **Yes, poor Kratos! He does need a hug! And I need to fix that shoe issue. It was supposed to be blue in chapter 3. I fail! Or rather, Microsoft Office fails! Yes. I'll blame it.

**LeaStar:** Well, by reading chapter 8, you have seen what Forcystus has done. XD I gotta admit, altering the story is fun. Thanks much, my dear, for enjoying my long chapters. I hope you enjoyed this one.

Holy cow, this is over 11,000 words, so much for being a short chapter. Ah well! I'm mega tired. I stayed up from 8pm to 4:24am typing all this in one setting again. Huzzoh! Review if you like!


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